pro-Russia rebels

The war in Ukraine, we are often told, is a “civil war” involving “rebels” fighting the central government in Kiev. Wrong.

As is so often the case, the seemingly intractable conflict in Ukraine has largely fallen out of the headlines in recent months.

Government troops and Russian-backed separatists largely suspended hostilities in east Ukraine on Tuesday, raising hopes of a lasting peaceful settlement in a conflict that has raged for seven months and claimed thousands of lives.

As battle raged in rebellion-wracked eastern Ukraine, cargo trains piled high with coal thundered along rail tracks to keep heating and power going to households in rebel-held territory.

A veteran activist who investigated the deaths and disappearances of Russian soldiers in Ukraine has been jailed, an advocacy group said Saturday.