Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is calling for the deployment of U.N. peacekeepers to monitor a cease-fire in eastern Ukraine, amid reports that at least 13 soldiers were killed while withdrawing from the town of Debaltseve. (Reuters) 
 
 Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is calling for the deployment of U.N. peacekeepers to monitor a cease-fire in eastern Ukraine, amid reports that at least 13 soldiers were killed while withdrawing from the town of Debaltseve. (Reuters) 
 
 Hopes for a cease-fire in Ukraine were fading on Thursday as fighting spread again across the war-torn east a day after a stinging defeat for government forces. 
 
 The renewal in combat from the Sea of Azov northward nearly 100 miles to the rebels’ new trophy of Debaltseve, a key railway hub, dimmed hopes for a peace deal reached last week. Rebels said Thursday they would continue to “purge” their new territory of Ukrainian soldiers, threatening further violence in the coming days. 
 
 The continued battles came as Ukraine’s government reported steeper losses than it had initially stated in a chaotic pullout from Debaltseve a day earlier. The conflict is increasingly threatening the stability of Ukraine’s government, which must explain to citizens why it allowed an entrapment that led to the bloody denouement on Wednesday. European leaders and the White House also face credibility questions, having threatened tough consequences if the peace plan failed to take hold. 
 
 Ukraine’s military said Thursday that at least 13 soldiers were killed and 92 captured on Wednesday alone. An additional 82 soldiers were missing after the pullback from Debaltseve. Prospects for their recovery were grim; many of the troops who escaped said they had left corpses behind in the retreat over the frozen Ukrainian steppe. 
 
 [Read: Ukrainian soldiers recall desperate run to safety] 
 
 View Graphic Map: Cease-fire pull back lines 
 
 After the defeat, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko pleaded for U.N. peacekeepers to fan out across Ukraine’s border with Russia, as well as the front line between rebel and government territory. The request amounted to a stark admission that he no longer believes Ukraine can defend itself alone. 
 
 But Russian diplomats said Thursday that any such mission would derail the cease-fire agreement reached last week in the Belarusan capital, Minsk, by the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany. Russia holds veto power on the U.N. Security Council and could scuttle any proposal for U.N. peacekeepers. 
 
 Even many Poroshenko allies questioned the handling of the operation during which thousands of Ukrainian soldiers were encircled and trapped under heavy bombardment by rebel forces. Combined with Ukraine’s grinding economic difficulties, the military debacle means Poroshenko may face an erosion of support in Kiev only eight months after taking power. 
 
 Later, Poroshenko told reporters that after the peace deal was signed, rebels and Russian forces “destroyed Debaltseve, wiping it off the face of the Earth. Today Debaltseve resembles a lunar landscape.” 
 
 Russia has denied sending its troops to eastern Ukraine in the conflict, which has cost more than 5,600 lives. 
 
 The group charged with monitoring the two sides’ compliance with the agreement said Thursday that a key part of the plan — the pullback of heavy weaponry from the front lines — did not appear to be happening, despite claims from both sides that they were doing so. 
 
 “The Minsk documents are not a shopping list; it’s one integrated whole,” said Michael Bociurkiw, a spokesman for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. 
 
 1 of 63 Full Screen Autoplay Close March 3, 2015 Tuesday March 2, 2015 Monday Feb. 21, 2015 Saturday Feb. 19, 2015 Feb. 18, 2015 Wednesday Feb. 14, 2015 Saturday Feb. 9 to Feb. 10, 2015 Skip Ad × Violence persists in eastern Ukraine View Photos Fighting between government forces and pro-Russian separatists intensified a day before a cease-fire took effect. Caption As part of the cease-fire, government forces and rebels swapped prisoners. March 5, 2015 An elderly woman walks to a bus stop in Donetsk, Ukraine, a stronghold for pro-Russian rebels. The neighborhood, close to the city's airport, has seen heavy shelling over the past months. John MacDougall/AFP/Getty Images Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue. 
 
 The organization said later that both sides had been using heavy weaponry on Thursday across the region. 
 
 Observers have not been allowed into Debaltseve, the scene of the hardest fighting in recent days, Bociurkiw said. Rebel leaders said Thursday that OSCE teams could soon enter — but only after the pro-Russian forces had emptied the town of pro-Ukraine holdouts. 
 
 “Tomorrow, or maximum the day after tomorrow, the purge of Debaltseve will be over. The OSCE mission will be able to visit,” said rebel military spokesman Eduard Basurin, according to Russian news agencies. If Ukrainian forces continued shelling rebel positions, the rebels would pull out of the peace deal, he warned. 
 
 Fighting flared Thursday near the key Ukrainian-held port city of Mariupol, where an eastern suburb came under heavy artillery attack by rebel forces. Witnesses in Donetsk also reported artillery fire lasting for hours. 
 
 In spite of the violence, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President François Hollande appeared Thursday to be clinging to hopes that the peace plan would take hold. Merkel’s office said the leaders had agreed to “hold firm to the Minsk agreements despite the grave breach of the cease-fire in Debaltseve.” 
 
 But rising discontent could be seen clearly in Ukraine after the military defeat. Borys Filatov, deputy governor of the eastern region of Dnipropetrovsk, urged Poroshenko, nominally an ally, to “live not by lies” after the president said Wednesday that only six soldiers had died in the pullout. 
 
 And Semen Semenchenko, a militia commander-turned-lawmaker who is also theoretically a Poroshenko ally, said Thursday that he and other volunteer commanders were forming an alternative “coordinating headquarters” to exchange intelligence and battle planning. The group would exist outside the formal structures of the Ukrainian military, an unusual decision that suggested splits in the military command. 
 
 Poroshenko’s request for international peacekeepers would depend on finding a peacekeeping force acceptable to both sides, probably ruling out any involvement for European Union, U.S. or Russian soldiers. 
 
 A Ukrainian military spokesman said Thursday that more than 90 percent of its forces had been withdrawn from Debaltseve. Reporters who visited the devastated town Thursday said they heard continued shooting at its outskirts, suggesting that some final holdouts may remain there. Rebels were fully in control of the territory. 
 
 The trauma hospital in government-held Artemivsk — about 30 miles northwest of Debaltseve — was largely cleared Thursday of the wounded soldiers who were there a day earlier, although the smell of dirt, sweat and blood lingered in the halls. 
 
 Doctors and nurses would not say how many soldiers they had treated. 
 
 But Yura Sadyha, 29, a soldier who had returned from the front a few days earlier and volunteered to help carry the wounded into the hospital, said that more than 200 soldiers came through it Wednesday for treatment. 
 
 “It’s an awful situation, because so many more people were left on the battlefield,” Sadyha said, rubbing his eyes after working at the hospital for 24 hours straight. 
 
 Demirjian reported from Artemivsk. ||||| Image copyright AP Image caption President Poroshenko said about 2,500 troops withdrew from Debaltseve on Wednesday 
 
 Russia's UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin has denounced Ukraine's call for the deployment of UN peacekeepers in eastern Ukraine as a destructive move. 
 
 The Ukrainian president's call "raises suspicions that he wants to destroy the Minsk accords", Mr Churkin said. 
 
 The Minsk ceasefire deal was reached a week ago but fighting round the strategic town of Debaltseve saw the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops there. 
 
 Shelling significantly increased in the rebel-held city of Donetsk on Thursday. 
 
 And Ukrainian officials reported mortar attacks by separatists on the coastal town of Shirokyne, near Mariupol. 
 
 'Violation' 
 
 Mr Churkin accused Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko of seeking a new scheme instead of doing what he had signed up to. 
 
 "If one proposes new schemes right away, the question arises whether [the accords] will be respected", he said. 
 
 The leadership of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic described the call for peacekeepers as a violation of the Minsk accords. 
 
 The leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France, the four parties to the Minsk accords, held further talks over the phone on Thursday. 
 
 The French presidency said the ceasefire breaches were denounced and the leaders called for "the implementation of the full package of measures agreed in Minsk" including a full ceasefire, withdrawal of heavy weapons and the release of prisoners. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption President Poroshenko met troops who withdrew from Debaltseve 
 
 Mr Poroshenko called for UN-mandated peacekeepers to enforce the ceasefire after fighting continued following the rebel advance on Debaltseve. 
 
 A police mission by the European Union would be the best format for a peacekeeping operation, Mr Poroshenko said on his website. 
 
 It would help guarantee security "in a situation where the promise of peace is not being kept", he told an emergency meeting of Ukraine's national security and defence council. 
 
 Analysis: Jonathan Marcus, BBC defence and diplomatic correspondent 
 
 Could a peacekeeping force help to secure the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine? 
 
 Well for a start there would need to be a functioning ceasefire; nobody is going to send troops into an active war zone. Just getting agreement at the UN for such a force might be an insurmountable diplomatic hurdle. 
 
 Russia - with a key veto power on the Security Council - is not just an interested bystander. Despite its denials, it is seen by Ukraine and the West as an active participant in the conflict. 
 
 An effective peacekeeping force paradoxically might be in nobody's interests. Peacekeepers tend to fix battle lines in place. In Ukraine both sides probably have further ambitions on the ground. The Russian-backed separatists may well want to advance further and the Ukrainian government's forces certainly aspire to take back territory that they have lost. 
 
 Many experts fear there is a lot more fighting to be done whether this ceasefire is implemented or not. 
 
 Nearly 2,500 Ukrainian soldiers withdrew from Debaltseve on Wednesday. 
 
 Ukraine's army said 82 soldiers were still missing on Thursday. Rebels claim to have captured hundreds. 
 
 Earlier a senior Ukrainian military official said 22 Ukrainian soldiers had died in Debaltseve over the past three days. Rebel claims of a much higher figure have been dismissed by the government. 
 
 Under threat 
 
 The ceasefire, which officially came into effect on Sunday, has reportedly seen some heavy weaponry withdrawn by both sides. 
 
 However, the BBC's Ian Pannell in Donetsk reported a significant increase in shelling on Thursday, with artillery fire shaking buildings in the city centre. 
 
 Meanwhile Ukrainian military spokesman Anatoliy Stelmakh said rebels had attacked the town of Shirokyne with tanks and weaponry. 
 
 After the fall of Debaltseve the peace agreement appears to be under serious threat, our correspondent says. 
 
 Earlier rebel spokesman Eduard Basurin said Debaltseve was now "completely under the control" of the separatists, with just "scattered" pockets of resistance that were being "neutralised". 
 
 Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg said the rebels' offensive had put the wider peace agreement at risk. 
 
 The White House said both the rebels and Russia had failed to live up to the terms of the Minsk agreement. 
 
 But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov insisted the rebels' actions in Debaltseve had not violated the ceasefire because it was a rebel-held city at the time of the agreement. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Footage of Debaltseve captured by a drone showed evidence of shelling 
 
 Most of the city's 25,000 population has been evacuated but about 5,000 civilians are still believed to be in the town. 
 
 Fighting began in eastern Ukraine in April, a month after Russia annexed the Crimea peninsula. 
 
 The UN says more than 5,600 people have been killed, but there are fears the actual death toll could be much higher. 
 
 Ukraine's pro-Western government says Russia is supporting the separatists with troops and weapons, but the Kremlin has consistently denied this. 
 
 Minsk agreement: Key points 
 
 Ceasefire from 00:01 on 15 February (22:01 GMT 14 February) 
 
 Heavy weapons to be withdrawn, beginning on 16 February and completed in two weeks - beyond a buffer zone behind the current front line for Ukrainian forces and behind the September front line for separatist forces 
 
 All prisoners to be released; amnesty for those involved in fighting 
 
 Withdrawal of all foreign troops and weapons from Ukrainian territory. Disarmament of all illegal groups 
 
 Ukraine to allow resumption of normal life in rebel areas, by lifting restrictions 
 
 Constitutional reform to enable decentralisation for rebel regions by the end of 2015 
 
 Ukraine to control border with Russia if conditions met by the end of 2015 
 
 Do you live in eastern Ukraine or have friends and family in the region? What do you think about the recent developments? You can email your experiences to haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk 
 
 Please include a contact number if you wish to be contacted by a BBC journalist. ||||| Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has called for an international peacekeeping mission for his country after ordering several thousand of his troops out of the strategic eastern Ukrainian town of Debaltseve, which has been taken over by Russia-backed separatists. 
 
 Poroshenko's office reported late Wednesday that a meeting of the country's National Defense and Security Council chaired by the Ukrainian president had come to a decision that the United Nations should be asked to send "a peacekeeping mission, which will act in accordance with the mandate of the U.N. Security Council." 
 
 The move came just hours after thousands of Ukrainian troops fled Debaltseve, a strategic rail hub that links the separatist strongholds of Luhansk and Donetsk. 
 
 The rebels reportedly captured hundreds of government troops and surrounded those it did not take prisoner, cutting off their food and water supplies. 
 
 White House comments 
 
 The White House said Wednesday that it is "crystal clear" that the separatists in eastern Ukraine and Russia are not living up to the cease-fire agreement negotiated last week in Minsk, Belarus, and warned of possible costs. 
 
 
 
 “We believe that it is important for all sides to live up to [the Minsk] agreement. It is also crystal clear that Russia-backed separatists and Russia themselves have not lived up to their commitments that they made in the context of [the Minsk] negotiations,” spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters. 
 
 
 
 Earnest added that the separatists and Moscow may incur “greater costs” and “should be mindful of that as they consider their next steps.” 
 
 He said that Washington continues to believe that “the way the situation can be revolved is around the negotiating table." 
 
 Map of Debaltseve, Ukraine x Map of Debaltseve, Ukraine 
 
 Putin gloats 
 
 Tuesday in Hungary, Russian President Vladimir Putin took a more philosophical view of Kyiv's losing control over Debaltseve and said the cease-fire negotiated last week must be implemented. 
 
 "Of course, it is always bad to lose. Of course, it is always painful to lose, especially if you lose to yesterday's miners and tractor mechanics," Putin said, referring to rebel fighters Kyiv and many Western goverments claim are supported by Moscow with manpower and weapons. "But life is life, and it will definitely go on.... We should resolve the main task -- save lives of lives of the people who are there now, to insure that they would return to their families, and fulfill the whole plan agreed on in Minsk,'' said Putin. 
 
 Germany condemned on Wednesday the pro-Russian separatists' offensive at Debaltseve, calling it a clear violation of a cease-fire agreed to last week, but said it was too early to call the broader Minsk peace deal dead. 
 
 Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said Europe stood ready to introduce new sanctions against Russia. 
 
 Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, right, shakes hands with Ukrainian servicemen in the town of Artemivsk, Ukraine, Feb. 18, 2015. x Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, right, shakes hands with Ukrainian servicemen in the town of Artemivsk, Ukraine, Feb. 18, 2015. 
 
 EU, NATO reaction 
 
 Also stepping up Western criticism of the rebel offensive on Debaltseve, European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said in Brussels, "The actions by the Russia-backed separatists in Debaltseve are a clear violation of the cease-fire. 
 
 “The EU stands ready to take appropriate action in case the fighting and other negative developments in violation of the Minsk agreements continue,” she said, making an apparent threat of further economic sanctions on Moscow. 
 
 Voicing his concerns about fighting at Debaltseve, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the refusal of pro-Russian separatists to respect the cease-fire threatened the Minsk accord. 
 
 “The refusal of the separatists to respect the cease-fire threatens the agreement, as does their denial of access to the area for the OSCE monitors,” Stoltenberg told reporters in the Latvian capital where he was attending a meeting of European Union defense ministers. 
 
 He also said Russian forces, artillery and air defense units were still active in Ukraine. 
 
 Watch video report from VOA's Zlatica Hoke: 
 
 ​Tuesday, the U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution drafted by Russia that supports the Minsk cease-fire deal, while calling for rebels to respect the territorial integrity of Ukraine. 
 
 Meanwhile, Ukraine is approaching the first anniversary on February 20 of the Maidan uprising, when months of anti-government protests in Kyiv turned violent, with security forces opening fire on protesters, killing over a hundred of them. The escalation led Ukraine's Moscow-backed president Viktor Yanukovych to flee Kyiv for Russia. 
 
 Some material for this report came from Reuters, AP and AFP.
– In an unraveling ceasefire with Russia-backed separatists, Ukraine lost the city of Debaltseve yesterday; the BBC also reports that shelling picked up in the rebel-held city of Donetsk, and that separatists have been conducting mortar attacks in the town of Shirokyne. So it's perhaps not surprising that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko asked yesterday for the UN to step in and send peacekeepers to the eastern part of the country, as per the Washington Post. But Russia isn't having any of that, telling its adversary to keep UN peacekeepers out or risk violating the Minsk deal reached last week, the BBC reports. Poroshenko's call for help "raises suspicions that he wants to destroy the Minsk accords," says Vitaly Churkin, the Russian ambassador, per the BBC. "If one proposes new schemes right away, the question arises whether [the accords] will be respected." Poroshenko today called Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merken, and French President Francois Hollande—the parties who drafted the ceasefire—and implored them not to act like "what happened in Debaltseve" met ceasefire mandates, the Post reports. The Russian foreign minister says the taking of the city does adhere to the rules, because Debaltseve was held by rebels before the deal, the BBC notes. One analyst for the BBC isn't even sure a peacekeeping mission would work, saying that "nobody is going to send troops into an active war zone," and that Russia and Ukraine will both dig their heels in to take (or take back) what they think is theirs. Still, the White House seems to know where it stands: "It is … crystal clear that Russia-backed separatists and Russia themselves have not lived up to their commitments that they made," press secretary Josh Earnest said yesterday, per Voice of America. Hollande's office issued a statement saying a "new push" was under way to enforce the ceasefire, the Post notes.