SLOVIANSK, Ukraine – The snow is melting, causing the streets in front of the railway station of the former separatist-controlled Sloviansk to be covered in mud and water. Representatives of local authorities and a group of volunteers patiently await buses transporting the people that have fled Debaltseve, the nearby Donetsk Oblast city where fighting is ferocious.

For months, Kremlin-backed separatists have surrounded the strategically important city, which

could serve as a rail link between Donetsk and Luhansk, yet

the city remained under Ukrainian control. However, fighting escalated in mid-January, with insurgents launching an

offensive trying to regain control. Dozens of people have been killed and more wounded.