Ukraine: A bumpy road to peace

After 8 months of conflict, what’s next for Ukraine?By Michael Pearson, CNNAugust 26, 2014 — Updated 1844 GMT (0244 HKT)Pro-Russian separatists escort captured Ukrainian army soldiers in a central square in Donetsk, Ukraine, on Sunday, August 24.

Ukrainian government forces have been battling pro-Russian rebels near Ukraine’s eastern border with Russia. The fighting has left more than 2,000 people dead since mid-April, according to estimates from U.N. officials.People yell as Ukrainian prisoners are paraded through Donetsk in eastern Ukraine on August 24. A pro-Russian rebel delivers a speech atop a damaged Ukrainian armored personnel carrier in Donetsk on August 24. Ukraine has recently retaken control of much of its eastern territory bordering Russia, but fierce fighting for the rebel-held cities of Donetsk and Luhansk persists.People look at damaged Ukrainian military equipment in Donetsk on August 24. The first trucks of a Russian aid convoy roll on the main road to Luhansk in eastern Ukraine on Friday, August 22. The head of Ukraine’s security service called the convoy a “direct invasion” under the guise of humanitarian aid since it entered the country without Red Cross monitors. A pro-Russian rebel holds shrapnel from a rocket after shelling in Donetsk, Ukraine, on August 22.Residents sit in a makeshift bomb shelter during a shelling in Makiyivka, Ukraine, on Wednesday, August 20.Dogs play together as a Russian convoy carrying aid supplies stops at a border control point with Ukraine, in the Russian town of Donetsk, in the Rostov-on-Don region on August 20.Ukrainian forces take their position not far from Luhansk, Ukraine, on August 20. Ukrainian troops made a significant push into rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine, claiming control over a large part of Luhansk and encircling the largest rebel-held city, Donetsk, in fighting that has left at least 43 dead. Clouds of smoke are on the horizon as Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian rebels clash in Yasynuvata, a suburb of Donetsk, Ukraine, on Tuesday, August 19. An Ukrainian helicopter flies near Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on August 19.Ukrainian soldiers load a missile during fighting with pro-Russian rebels Monday, August 18, near Luhansk, Ukraine.Boys play at a refugee camp, set up by the Russian Emergencies Ministry, near the Russian-Ukrainian border on August 18.Ukrainian soldiers carry weapons at a checkpoint near Debaltseve, Ukraine, on Saturday, August 16.Pro-Russian rebels greet each other as they pass near Krasnodon, Ukraine, on August 16.A fireman tries to extinguish a fire after shelling in Donetsk on August 16.Ukrainian border guards patrol near Novoazovsk, Ukraine, on Friday, August 15.Trucks of a Russian humanitarian convoy are parked in a field outside the town of Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, in the Rostov region of Russia about 20 miles from the Ukraine border, on August 15. Ukrainian officials were preparing to inspect the convoy, which was bound for the conflict-torn east.A truck driver from the convoy jumps out of a trailer on August 15. The Ukrainian government had expressed fears that the convoy was a large-scale effort to smuggle supplies or troops to pro-Russian rebels.A tank belonging to pro-Russian rebels moves along a street in Donetsk on August 15.A Ukrainian soldier walks past a line of self-propelled guns as a column of military vehicles prepares to head to the front line near Illovaisk, Ukraine, on Thursday, August 14.A Ukrainian soldier prepares a mortar at a position near Illovaisk on August 14. A man inspects damage at his house after a shelling in Donetsk on August 14. A convoy of trucks, which Moscow said was carrying relief goods for war-weary civilians, moves from Voronezh, Russia, toward Rostov-on-Don, Russia, on August 14.Pro-Russian rebels on the outskirts of Donetsk stand at a checkpoint near a bullet-riddled bus on Wednesday, August 13.A pro-Russian rebel inspects damage after shelling in Donetsk on Thursday, August 7.Smoke billows from a Ukrainian fighter jet crash near the village of Zhdanivka, Ukraine, on August 7. Residents of eastern Ukraine cry in a hospital basement being used as a bomb shelter August 7 in Donetsk.Ordnance from a Ukrainian rocket launcher shoots toward a pro-Russian militant position in the Donetsk region on August 7.Relatives of Ukrainian military member Kyril Andrienko, who died in combat in eastern Ukraine, gather during his funeral in Lviv, Ukraine, on August 7.Refugees from southeastern Ukraine wait at a refugee camp in Donetsk on Wednesday, August 6.A pro-Russian rebel adjusts his weapon in Donetsk on August 6.Men walk past a bomb crater in Donetsk on August 6.A man steps out of his car as Ukrainian soldiers inspect the vehicle at a checkpoint in Debaltseve on August 6.Ukrainian servicemen sit on a bus near Slovyansk, Ukraine, on Tuesday, August 5.A pro-Russian separatist guards a road as Australian, Malaysian and Dutch investigators prepare to examine the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 near the village of Rossipne, Ukraine, on August 5. U.S. and Ukrainian officials allege that a Russian-made missile shot down the plane from rebel-held territory, killing all 298 people on board. Russia and the rebel fighters deny involvement.Rescue workers carry the body of a woman who was killed during a bomb shelling in Donetsk on August 5.A boy stands in a hallway of a refugee hostel run by pro-Russian rebels in Donetsk on Monday, August 4.Ukrainian servicemen from the Donbass volunteer battalion clean their guns Sunday, August 3, in Popasna, Ukraine.Ukrainian soldiers fire shells toward rebel positions near Pervomaysk, Ukraine, on Saturday, August 2.Ukrainian troops patrol near the village of Novoselovka on Thursday, July 31.