On Thursday, Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian soldiers traded allegations of firing across the ceasefire line in eastern Ukraine, heightening fears at a time when Western countries have warned that a Russian invasion might happen at any time.
Moscow, which has amassed over 100,000 troops near Ukraine, denies that it is plotting an invasion and has announced that some troops will be withdrawn this week. The West denies that a significant pullback has occurred, and the US has stated that thousands more troops are on their way.
It was unclear whether the reports of shelling along the front line constituted an escalation or fit a pattern of ceasefire violations that have been common in a battle approaching its eight-year.
Western countries have accused Russia of plotting to use an event in the rebel-held territory to justify an invasion, while Moscow has accused Kyiv of planning an escalation to forcefully reclaim territory.
In contrast to Russia’s claims that it is retreating, a senior official in US President Joe Biden’s administration stated that up to 7,000 additional troops had been deployed to the border in recent days, with some arriving on Wednesday.
Russia’s defense ministry produced a video that appeared to show more forces withdrawing. Satellite photographs reveal that while Russia has taken back some military equipment from near Ukraine, more material has arrived, according to Maxar Technologies, a private U.S. business that has been watching the buildup.
SHELLING COMMENCES
A photographer in Ukraine’s rebel-held Luhansk region heard artillery fire from the direction of the line of contact but was unable to ascertain the nature of the incident.
Separatists claim that government soldiers had fired four times on their turf in the last 24 hours. Kyiv accused the separatists of firing shells, including some that hit a kindergarten, leaving two civilians to suffer from shell shock.
According to a diplomatic source, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s long-running monitoring mission documented multiple shelling incidents along the line of contact in the early hours of Thursday.
Since a ceasefire ended serious combat in the separatist struggle in 2015, the OSCE has reported hundreds of ceasefire violations every day, with severe shelling or skirmishes resulting in injuries or death several times a month.
In four different instances on Thursday, the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic, one of two rebel territories, said Ukrainian soldiers deployed mortars, grenade launchers, and a machine gun.
“Armed troops of Ukraine have flagrantly broken the ceasefire regime, employing heavy weaponry that should be withdrawn in accordance with the Minsk agreements,” the separatists said in a statement.
Ukraine’s military claimed this about the insurgents: “Russian occupation troops shelled the village of Stanytsa Lugansk in the Luhansk area with a particularly cynical attitude. The kindergarten building was struck by shells fired by terrorists using powerful artillery weapons. Two people suffered shell shock, according to preliminary data.”
Russia denies plotting an invasion of Ukraine, but it has threatened to take unspecified “military-technical” measures unless a number of conditions are met, including a commitment that Kyiv will never be admitted to NATO.
The West has rejected Russia’s major requests but has proposed negotiations on arms control and other areas. If Russia invades, the US and Europe have warned of penalties, which Moscow has mostly dismissed.
