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Story highlights At least 224 civilians killed and more than 540 hurt in last three weeks of January, U.N. says Bus stops, marketplaces, schools and hospitals have become battlegrounds, official says The fighting in eastern Ukraine has been among the fiercest in decades in Europe

These are the sights and sounds that CNN's Nick Paton Walsh observed in and around the besieged city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.

Six months ago, Donetsk's once proud Sergey Prokofiev International Airport was still in use.

But the worsening conflict between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine has transformed it into a scene of devastation -- a symbol of the wider destruction that's left the Donetsk region reeling.

Civilians are increasingly falling victim to the fighting, with at least 224 killed and more than 540 others injured in the final three weeks of January, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights said Tuesday.

The fighting has been among the fiercest in decades in Europe.

In Debaltseve, about 45 miles northeast of the city of Donetsk, a stream of civilians has fled the shelling.

The town has been the scene of bloody conflict in recent days as separatist forces seek to surround Ukrainian troops.

A morgue in nearby Artyemovsk is full with the bodies of fighters and civilians who didn't make it to safety in time.

There, CNN's Paton Walsh saw one soldier torn in half, placed in a body bag. Morgue staff who said they'd seen 200 bodies in the past month were working 24 hours a day to try to keep up with the number coming in.

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Civilians increasingly under fire as Ukraine devastation ...