Shelling breaks out in east Ukraine as West and Moscow dispute troop moves
An interior view shows a kindergarten, which according to Ukraine's military officials was damaged by shelling, in Stanytsia Luhanska in the Luhansk region, Ukraine, in this handout picture released February 17, 2022. Press Service of the Joint Forces Operation/Handout via REUTERS
KADIIVKA, Ukraine (Reuters) - Russian-backed rebels and Ukrainian forces traded accusations on Thursday that each had fired across the ceasefire line in eastern Ukraine, raising alarm at a time when Western countries have warned of the possibility of a Russian invasion any day.
Moscow, which has massed more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine, denies it is planning to invade its neighbour and has said this week it is pulling back some troops. The West disputes that there has been a significant withdrawal, and the United States said thousands more troops were still arriving.
It was not immediately possible to determine whether the reports of shelling along the front line amounted to an escalation, or fit a pattern of ceasefire violations that have been routine throughout a conflict entering its eighth year.
Western countries have repeatedly accused Russia of planning to use an incident in the rebel-held areas to justify an attack, while Moscow, for its part, has accused Kyiv of planning an escalation to try to recapture territory by force.
Contradicting Russia's assertions that it is pulling back, a senior official in U.S. President Joe Biden's administration said up to 7,000 more troops had moved to the border in recent days, including some arriving on Wednesday.
Russia's defence ministry released video it said showed more departing units. Maxar Technologies, a private U.S. company that has been tracking the buildup, said satellite images showed that while Russia has pulled back some military equipment from near Ukraine, other hardware has arrived.
SHELLING HEARD
A Reuters photographer in the town of Kadiivka in Ukraine's rebel-held Luhansk region heard the sound of some artillery fire from the direction of the line of contact, but was not able to determine the details of the incident.
The separatists accused government forces of opening fire on their territory four times in the past 24 hours. Kyiv accused the rebels of firing shells, including some that struck a kindergarten, causing shell-shock to two civilians.
A diplomatic source said a longstanding monitoring mission from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe had recorded multiple shelling incidents along the line of contact in the early hours of Thursday.
Since a 2015 ceasefire brought an end to major combat in the separatist conflict, the OSCE has typically reported dozens of ceasefire violations each day, with significant shelling or clashes leading to injuries or death several times a month.
The self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic, one of two rebel regions, said Ukrainian forces had used mortars, grenade launchers and a machine gun in four separate incidents on Thursday.
"Armed forces of Ukraine have crudely violated the ceasefire regime, using heavy weapons, which, according to the Minsk agreements, should be withdrawn," the separatists said in a statement.
Referring to the rebels, Ukraine's military said: "With particular cynicism, the Russian occupation troops shelled the village of Stanytsa Lugansk in the Luhansk region. As a result of the use of heavy artillery weapons by terrorists, shells hit the kindergarten building. According to preliminary data, two civilians received shell shock."
Russia denies planning an invasion of Ukraine, but says it could take unspecified "military-technical" action unless a range of demands are met, including a promise never to admit Kyiv into the NATO alliance.
The West has rejected the main Russian demands but has proposed talks on arms control and other issues. The United States and Europe have threatened sanctions if Russia invades, which Moscow has largely brushed off.
And so it begins...
ReplyDeleteWWII in Europe began on Sept 1, 1939 with German Special Forces dressed in Polish uniforms "attacking" German outposts, and a few German soldiers were killed.
This was the final , flimsiest pretext for Nazi Germany to crush Poland.
And so it begins...RussPutin Nazis of 2022....
Wakakakakaka…
DeleteAGAIN, parading yr know nothingness by repeating fabricated lies from that fart filled well!
History is going to repeat itself, to the dot.
ReplyDeleteRecalling the start of the Russo-Georgian war.
From 1 August 2008, South Ossetian separatists shelled Georgian villages, as claimed by Georgian peacekeepers in the area. The artillery attacks broke the 1992 ceasefire agreement, which stipulated this type of weaponry was not allowed to be deployed in the conflict zone.
Russia accused Georgia of "aggression against South Ossetia", and launched a full-scale land, air and sea invasion of Georgia on 8 August which Russia called a "peace enforcement" operation. Russian and South Ossetian forces fought Georgian forces in and around South Ossetia for several days, until Georgian forces retreated.
Russian and Abkhaz forces opened a second front by attacking the Kodori Gorge held by Georgia. Russian naval forces blockaded part of the Georgian coast. The Russian air force attacked targets beyond the conflict zone, in undisputed parts of Georgia. This was the first war in history in which cyber warfare coincided with military action. An information war was also waged during and after the conflict.
Nicolas Sarkozy, the President of France, negotiated a ceasefire agreement on 12 August.
Russia recognised the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia from Georgia on 26 August.
Same scenario is going to happen in Russian - speaking quasi-states of the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics in the Donetsk Oblast of eastern Ukraine.
Poland has never forgotten - and never forgiven- that it was invaded and raped in September 1939 by both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union (precursor of today's Russia), at the same time.
ReplyDeleteThere is absolutely no doubt in Poland and the Baltic states Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia that NATO membership is essential for their security , to prevent being crushed by the Russian thugs.
I have been to these countries as a tourist...they are among the most enthusiastic "Wankee" supporters in the world.
Wakakakakaka…
DeleteTypical LOOPY view of Europe geopolitics!
Ooop… add with a extra heavy dose of Yankee fart for smell too!
The European geopolitical cauldron was/is the simmering results of old fractional European states mixed with a bipolar challenge of Yankee demoNcracy with Russia Bolshevism.
The peoples of the Baltic countries of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia belong to different Christian denominations. Primary denominations are Orthodox (Estonia), Lutherianism (Latvia) and Catholicism (Lithuania),
Thus Lithuania and Latvia have been strongly anti-Russia while Estonia which shares a same religious faith with Russia is less vocal against Russia.
Over centuries, there have been several Polish–Russian Wars, with Poland once occupying Moscow and later Russia controlling much of Poland in the 19th as well as in the 20th century.
In short, the current political interplays of these exSoviet member states have a lot to do with the ancient blood feuds of these states since the time of Grand Prince of Kyiv!
The Yankee just manipulate with their inherent conflicts as been worded in Zbigniew K BrzeziĆski's The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives.