The Foreign Ministers of Ukraine, Russia, Germany, and France are meeting later Wednesday in Berlin to look for a way to defuse the tension in eastern Ukraine.  This comes after the cease-fire expired, and government troops brought the fight back to pro-Moscow separatists.

The fighting didn’t stop during the cease-fire, but it had diminished greatly.  Now, that respite is gone. 

“The active phase of the counterterrorism operation resumed this morning,” said Oleksandr Turchynov, the chairman of Ukraine’s parliament.  “Our armed forces are hitting the bases and outposts of terrorists,” he said using the government’s chosen phrase to refer to the separatists.

Ukrainian troops unleashed ground assaults and air bombardments throughout the eastern region.  That included heavy artillery shelling around the rebel-controlled city of Slovyansk and pitched battles for control of administrative buildings in Donetsk. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned the new violence and said he maintained the right to protect Russian-speaking people in Ukraine.  He also said Moscow could not stand idly by while a country with close historical ties to Russia descended into chaos.