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"MARIUPOL, Ukraine \u2014 The battle for Ukraine's strategic coastline heated up Wednesday as a local mayor reported that pro-Russian rebel forces entered a key town in southeast Ukraine after three days of heavy shelling.\nNovoazovsk, a resort town of 40,000 on the Sea of Azov, lies in a strategically significant location \u2014 on the road linking Russia to the Ukrainian port of Mariupol and onto Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that Russia annexed earlier this year. \nSee also: Ukrainians Arm Themselves in Preparation for Battle\nWednesday's incursion, reported by the town's mayor, was the first time in the four-month-long conflict between the government in Kiev and separatists in the east that fighting has reached as far south as the seacoast. It suggests that the rebels \u2014 who Ukraine, NATO and Western nations all say are being supported by Russia \u2014 have been both emboldened and reinforced.\nHowever, the New York Times reports that the troops and weaponry that crossed over the border are from Russia, and they have attacked Ukrainian forces, which has incited panic and retreat over the past few days. The Times says Western and Ukrainian military officials have described these moves as a stealth invasion. \nThe new southeastern front raised fears the separatists are seeking to create a land link between Russia and Crimea. If successful, it could give them or Russia control over the entire Sea of Azov and the gas and mineral riches that energy experts believe it contains. Ukraine already lost roughly half its coastline, several major ports and significant Black Sea mineral rights in March when Russia annexed Crimea.\nOleg Sidorkin, the mayor of Novoazovsk, told The Associated Press by telephone that the rebels had entered the town and he had seen dozens of tanks and armored vehicles roll in. \nAP reporters earlier in the day saw more than 20 shells fall around the town in a one-hour span. But access from the west was blocked by Ukrainian soldiers later and the presence of rebels in Novoazovsk could not be independently confirmed. The video below, posted by a Spanish journalist working in the area, shows the aftermath of the attacks and residents seeking shelter. \n\nSidorkin said the rebels had been positioned near Ukraine's southernmost border with Russia. It was not immediately clear how the rebels could have traveled to the southeast area, which is far from the main front line further north and in an area controlled by the government. Fighters could have easily come over the Russian border, however.\nThe assault on the town has forced government troops to spread their ranks thinner along the Russian border.\nA spokesman for Ukraine's security council, Col. Andriy Lysenko, said \"we do not have information that it (Nozoazovsk) is occupied.\"\nEarlier, he said the shelling around the town was coming from both Ukrainian and Russian territory. Ukrainian security officials said nearby villages had also come under shelling. \nThe video below, which was posted on Tuesday, shows roads and trees on fire in the area between the border and Mariupol, a city of 450,000 about 20 miles to the west. \n\nIn Mariupol, the defenses built up. A brigade of Ukrainian forces arrived at the airport on Wednesday afternoon, while deep trenches were dug a day earlier on the city's edge. Other troops were blocking traffic from entering or leaving the port's eastern edge. \nArtillery shells in Novoazovsk appeared to be flying between rebel and government positions.\n\"It hit a tree, there was a blast and the shrapnel came down here,\" said Alexei Podlepentsov, an electrician at the Novoazovsk hospital, which was struck by shelling Tuesday.\nIn Donetsk, the largest rebel-held city further north, at least three people were killed on a main road when their cars were hit by shrapnel from falling artillery shells.\nPhotographer Evgeny Feldman, who is working in Donetsk, saw shelling on Wednesday that hit homes and a car, killing at least two. \n\n\u043D\u0430 \u0428\u0435\u0432\u0447\u0435\u043D\u043A\u043E \u0433\u043E\u0440\u0438\u0442 \u0438 \u0441\u0433\u043E\u0440\u0438\u0442 \u0414\u041A, \u043F\u043E\u0441\u0442\u0440\u0430\u0434\u0430\u043B\u0438 \u0436\u0438\u043B\u044B\u0435 \u0434\u043E\u043C\u0430, \u0432 \u0442\u043E\u043C \u0447\u0438\u0441\u043B\u0435 \u043F\u0440\u044F\u043C\u044B\u043C \u043F\u043E\u043F\u0430\u0434\u0430\u043D\u0438\u0435\u043C, \u0434\u0432\u0430 \u043E\u0431\u0433\u043E\u0440\u0435\u0432\u0448\u0438\u0445 \u0442\u0435\u043B\u0430 \u0432 \u043C\u0430\u0448\u0438\u043D\u0435 pic.twitter.com/AdQTaOCex9\n\u2014 Feldman (@EvgenyFeldman) August 27, 2014\n\n\n\u0414\u043E\u043D\u0435\u0446\u043A: \u043C\u0438\u043D\u043E\u043C\u0435\u0442\u043D\u044B\u0439 \u043E\u0431\u0441\u0442\u0440\u0435\u043B, \u0433\u043E\u0440\u0438\u0442 \u0445\u043B\u0435\u0431\u0437\u0430\u0432\u043E\u0434, \u0440\u0430\u043D\u0435\u043D\u044B\u0445 \u043D\u0435\u0442; \u043E\u0431\u0441\u0442\u0440\u0435\u043B\u044F\u043D\u044B \u0435\u0449\u0435 \u0434\u0432\u0435 \u0442\u043E\u0447\u043A\u0438 pic.twitter.com/q6gSdD8TpB\n\u2014 Feldman (@EvgenyFeldman) August 27, 2014\n\nFighting persisted elsewhere, and Lysenko said 13 Ukrainian troops had been killed over the past day.\nUkraine and Western governments have repeatedly accused Russia of playing a direct role in the conflict, supplying troops and weaponry to the rebels. Russia denies the claims, but their stance is increasingly dismissed abroad.\nSee also: 'The Next Stalingrad' Awaits in Ukraine\n\"Information, which in recent hours has gained another hard-facts confirmation, is that regular Russian units are operating in eastern Ukraine,\" Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Wednesday. \"This information, coming from NATO and confirmed by our intelligence, is in fact unequivocal.\"\nRussian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Petro Poroshenko, met in the Belarusian capital of Minsk on Tuesday for their first ever one-on-one meeting, which lasted over two hours. But there was no indication of a swift resolution to the fighting that has dragged on since April and claimed at least 2,000 civilian lives.\nPoroshenko called the talks \"overall positive\" and said Putin had accepted the principles of his peace plan, which includes an amnesty for those in the east not accused of serious crimes and calls for some decentralization of power.\nPutin, however, insisted that only Kiev could secure a cease-fire deal with the pro-Moscow separatists, saying the conflict was \"Ukraine's business\" because Russia was not in the fight.\nRussia \"can only help to create an atmosphere of trust for this important and necessary process,\" Putin said. \"We in Russia cannot talk about any conditions for the cease-fire.\"\nBut Associated Press journalists on the border have seen the rebels with a wide range of unmarked military equipment \u2014 including tanks, Buk missile launchers and armored personnel carriers \u2014 and have run into many Russians among the rebel fighters. \nUkraine also captured 10 soldiers from a Russian paratrooper division Monday around Amvrosiivka, a town near the Russian border. In videos posted on Facebook by Ukraine, one captive soldier said he did not know they were heading on a mission into Ukraine, while another said he did.\nThose 10 have been taken to Kiev for questioning \u2014 but Ukrainian officials say Russia has not contacted them about the soldiers.\nUkraine wants the rebels to hand back the territory they have captured in eastern Ukraine, while Putin wants to retain some sort of leverage over the mostly Russian-speaking region so Ukraine does not join NATO or the European Union. Putin has so far ignored requests from the rebels to be annexed by Russia.\nIn Moscow, Denis Pushilin, one of the leaders of the pro-Russia insurgency, told reporters he had no information about whether Russian soldiers had entered Ukraine near Novoazovsk. But he said the Ukrainian separatists have been joined by many volunteers, including ones from Russia and Serbia.\nAP reporters in eastern Ukraine have heard a variety of Russian accents from all over the country among the rebel fighters.\nPhotos from Evgeny Feldman in Donetsk\n\n\nLife in Donetsk, Ukraine\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSince the separatists have moved into the city and fought with Ukrainian forces, many residents have fled Donetsk. This photo shows the city of Donetsk in the evening with barely any lights from apartments. \n\nImage:  Evgeny Feldman, Mashable\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLocals chat in the bomb shelter.\n\nImage:  Evgeny Feldman, Mashable\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nA separatist fighter stands guard at a checkpoint in Donetsk. \n\nImage:  Evgeny Feldman, Mashable\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nA rebel fighter stays in dugout at a checkpoint in Donetsk.\n\nImage:  Evgeny Feldman, Mashable\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLocal man, who was injured during shelling in Donetsk, receives medical care. His wife also suffered non-fatal injuries. \n\nImage:  Evgeny Feldman, Mashable\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPeople including young boy stay in bomb shelter in Donetsk even during a daylight.\n\nImage:  Evgeny Feldman, Mashable\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nA fighter for the rebel forces stationed at a checkpoint in Donetsk. \n\nImage:  Evgeny Feldman, Mashable\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDonetsk's museum of regional studies suffers extreme amount of damage after it was shelled three times.\n\nImage:  Evgeny Feldman, Mashable\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMiners' statuette is seen in museum hall that was damaged after shelling.\n\nImage:  Evgeny Feldman, Mashable\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMuseum workers wet the floor in order to settle dust from broken glass.\n\nImage:  Evgeny Feldman, Mashable\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nBus that was once used by Ukrainian volunteer battalions is seen covered in bullet holes after an unsuccessful assault attempt at one of separatist checkpoints in Donetsk.\n\nImage:  Evgeny Feldman, Mashable\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSmoke rising from Donetsk's House of Culture after a mine explosion.\n\nImage:  Evgeny Feldman, Mashable\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSeparatist fighters stand at damaged sunflower oil factory in Donetsk.  \n\nImage:  Evgeny Feldman, Mashable\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nA road sign showing the direction to Donetsk is seen at a rebel checkpoint with the city name spelling changed from Ukrainian to Russian.\n\nImage:  Evgeny Feldman, Mashable\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMashable contributed to this report.\n      window._msla=window.loadScriptAsync||function(src,id){if(document.getElementById(id))return;var js=document.createElement('script');js.id=id;js.src=src;document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0].parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);};\n_msla(\"//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\",\"twitter_jssdk\");"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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