Ukraine rebels to swell ranks by 100,000

Ukrainian troops battled to repel waves of Russian-backed separatists trying to surround a strategic railway hub in eastern Ukraine, while in an ominous sign for peace efforts, the rebels announced plans to boost the size of their armed forces.

Elsewhere, the rebel stronghold of Donetsk came under heavy, sustained shelling once again. City authorities said 15 civilians had been killed over the weekend in the fighting, while Ukraine authorities said five soldiers had been killed and 29 wounded overall in the east in the past day alone.

Since the unrest in eastern Ukraine surged anew in early January, the separatists have made strides in clawing territory away from the government in Kiev. Their main offensive is now directed at Debaltseve — a government-held railway junction once populated by 25,000 people that lies between the rebel-held cities of Luhansk and Donetsk.