DONETSK: Ukrainian forces on Thursday ceded a long-disputed airport to Russian-backed rebels as an upsurge in clashes killed nearly 50 people and punctured Europe's latest push for peace in the nine-month war.

The deadliest day of fighting since the signing of an increasingly irrelevant September truce also saw Moscow and Kiev trade bitter blame for a trolleybus shelling in the rebel stronghold of Donetsk that killed 13 mostly elderly passengers.

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