Ukrainian Troops Bemoan Soviet-Era Weapons After Debaltseve Rout

Maksym Lyapin and Vasyl Tovt, Ukrainian soldiers and childhood friends, say they were lucky to get away from the besieged city of Debaltseve -- especially considering how much better armed and prepared were the pro-Russian forces that chased them out of town.

“Let’s be honest, they let us go,” said Tovt, sitting with his friend on a bench near a tank unit in Artemivsk, where they arrived after a retreat under fire that’s raised questions about the durability of the cease-fire brokered by the German, French, Russian and Ukrainian leaders. “If they wanted, they could have killed all of us. It was a nightmare, a total mess. Everyone was escaping without any order.”