Avdiivka — The head of Nato warned on Wednesday that Ukraine faced its worst violence "in a long time" as global alarm rang out over a spike in bloodshed that has killed 19 people in the EU’s backyard. Government forces and Russian-backed separatists exchanged mortar and rocket fire for a fourth day around the flashpoint eastern town of Avdiivka that sits just north of the rebels’ de facto capital Donetsk. The Ukrainian military said three of its soldiers had died overnight while the rebels said as many civilians had been killed. Hundreds of mourners, meanwhile, laid flowers on Kiev’s Independence (Maidan) Square as servicemen carried the coffins of comrades killed in the east. The Avdiivka clashes have left more than 20,000 people without heat or water in freezing winter weather with no signs of relief in sight. The fighting comes at a potential watershed moment for Ukraine as fears mount in Kiev that staunch US support could wane with President Donald Trump looking to mend ties wi...
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