Debaltseve (Ukraine) (AFP) - Battles raged Sunday between government forces and pro-Russian rebels for control of a strategic transport hub as the death toll mounted in east Ukraine following the collapse of ceasefire talks. Intense artillery fire thundered around the Kiev-controlled town of Debaltseve, a key position between the rebel bastions of Donetsk and Lugansk, where insurgent fighters are trying to encircle Ukrainian troops.A convoy carrying an AFP crew into the beleaguered town -- which once had a population of about 25,000 -- came under fire, blowing out the windows of a bus in the convoy and lightly injuring two people.Officials said civilians are being evacuated along the only passable road linking the town to the government side and that conditions are increasingly dire for those left behind. "People are fleeing because the shelling is non-stop.