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   From: acoustic@panix.com   
      
   Who would have thought that Kiev would be making such a spectacular   
   comeback in its eastern provinces?  Vladimir Putin was sitting around   
   and waiting for his best moment to intervene.  One by one, those   
   moments were never quite the very best that he had hoped for.  One by   
   one, they slipped away.  And the longer he sat, the less room he had   
   to manuever.  Now, he will go down in Russia's history as an impotent   
   figure to come on the scene, unable to rise to the challenge of his   
   time.   
      
   lo yeeOn   
      
   Donetsk, Ukraine (CNN) -- Long lines of cars jammed the roads leading   
   south out of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine Saturday, as residents   
   attempted to flee the city center after a night of heavy shelling on   
   the city's northern outskirts.   
      
   Hundreds of vehicles were caught in heavy traffic, and trains are no   
   longer running in and out of the city, which is a stronghold for the   
   pro-Russia rebels.   
      
   There was heavy shelling and antiaircraft fire on the outskirts of the   
   city to the north throughout the night. There has been sustained   
   fighting in the area for weeks, but it appeared more intense overnight   
   than in recent days.   
      
   Russian news agency Interfax reported a dramatic increase in the   
   number of Ukrainian refugees seeking refuge over the border in Russia.   
      
   "The Ukrainian government officials were seeking to encircle the city,   
   really squeeze the remaining pro-Russian separatist forces that had   
   fallen back there since being driven out of other strongholds across   
   Eastern Ukraine," said CNN's Phil Black, reporting from a congested   
   road in Donetsk while scores of people attempted to leave.   
      
   "It appears the Ukrainian government forces moving closer to the city,   
   perhaps with the intention of retaking it," said Black. "At the   
   southern outskirts of the city again, we saw a very big presence of   
   Ukrainian armored vehicles; tanks, artillery, armored personnel   
   carriers."   
      
   An additional 4,600 people have moved into temporary camps over the   
   past 24 hours, Interfax cited Russian Emergency Situations Ministry   
   spokesman Alexander Drobyshevsky as saying. This has pushed the total   
   number of refugees staying in such camps above 31,000, he said.   
      
   Russia has opened 20 new temporary settlements for Ukrainian refugees   
   in the past day, Drobyshevsky told Interfax, bringing the total number   
   provided to 433. More than 11,000 children are among those staying   
   there, he said.   
      
   CNN cannot independently confirm the report.   
      
   According to the latest figures from the United Nations' refugee   
   agency, UNHCR, a total of 141,972 Ukrainians have fled to Russia this   
   year because of unrest in eastern Ukraine, based on information from   
   the Russian Federal Migration Service as of July 22. More than 41,000   
   of those Ukrainians are reported to have applied for asylum.   
      
   An additional 101,617 Ukrainians were reported as internally displaced   
   within Ukraine as of July 22, the UNHCR said.   
      
   However, the refugee agency noted that because of the lack of a   
   centralized registration system, the real number of those who have   
   fled their homes is unknown and is likely to be higher.   
      
   "Various organizations report that some displaced persons from the   
   East are reluctant to apply to the authorities because they fear   
   retribution, want to maintain a low profile, and moreover, see little   
   benefit in identifying themselves as there is no special reception   
   procedures established for them," the UNHCR said.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)