Day: February 17, 2022

The Ukrainian government and pro-Russian separatists on Thursday blamed each other for cease-fire violations along the line of contact in the eastern Donbas region.

According to a statement issued by the Joint Center for Armistice Coordination and Control on behalf of the so-called Donetsk and Lugansk Republics, the Ukrainian army attacked nine settlements in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions during two hours of intensive artillery shelling.

The Ukrainian forces used 120 millimeter and 82 millimeter artillery shells, as well as various types of bombs and weapons, in the early morning attacks on the settlements of Kominternove, Oktyabr, Novolaspa, Petrovsky, Veselenkoe, Donetsky, Zolotoe-5, Nijnee Lozovoe, and Sokolniki, the statement claimed.

Separatists later shared videos on social media of their retaliation, which included firing at army locations under the control of the Kyiv administration.

Separatists requested that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) send a monitoring mission to document the situation.

Russian media reported quoting sources that no one was killed or injured as a result of the Ukrainian army shelling in the Donbas region. However, some sources said the situation is still unclear, and separatists are investigating the deaths and injuries in the region.

Kindergarten bombed

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian General Staff released pictures of a bombed-out kindergarten on its social media account, noting that pro-Russian separatist fighters bombed the Stanytsia Luhanska settlement under the Kyiv government control.

“As a result of the heavy artillery fire by the terrorists, the bombshells fell on the kindergarten building. According to initial reports, two civilians were injured,” it said.

The statement also said that civilians were evacuated to shelters, the infrastructure was damaged in the settlement as a result of the bombing, and half of the city was left without electricity.

“During the Russian shelling of Stanytsia Luhanska, one of the mines hit a kindergarten. None of the children was injured, but two of the teachers were shell-shocked. That’s all the world needs to know about Russia’s ‘withdrawal of troops’ from the Ukrainian borders,” the Ukrainian Embassy in Ankara said on Twitter.

Moscow, according to Ukrainian officials and NATO, has recently amassed more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine, prompting fears that the Kremlin could be planning a military offensive against its former Soviet neighbor.

Denying that it is preparing to invade, Russia has accused Western countries of undermining its security through NATO’s expansion toward its borders.

Russia also issued a list of security demands to the West, including a rollback of troop deployments from some ex-Soviet states and guarantees that some of those states would not join NATO.

In a written response to the demands, Washington said it is committed to upholding NATO’s “open-door policy,” while NATO also conveyed the alliance’s reply “in parallel with the United States.”

Source: Anadolu Agency

The US defense secretary on Thursday rejected Russian claims on withdrawing troops from the Ukrainian border, stating that Moscow has instead directed more troops and equipment to the area.

“Quite the contrary, we see them add to the more than 150,000 troops that they already have on the border,” Lloyd Austin told reporters following a two-day meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels.

He said that according to their information, Russia had even moved some troops closer to the border.

“We see them fly in more combat and support aircraft. We see them sharpen their readiness in the Black Sea. We even see them stocking up their blood supply from supplies,” Austin asserted.

He warned that Russia was pursuing these actions with a reason, and stressed that NATO has to stay vigilant in case Moscow stages false flag operations “where Russia manufacturers a dramatic event to justify an attack that we’ve seen them run in the past.”

Austin also noted that, contrary to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s demands on pulling troops back from NATO’s eastern flank, the alliance reinforced its presence and has never been “more relevant and more united and more resolute” than it was now.

He welcomed Russia signaling interest in talks and reassured that the US would be a good partner in negotiations.

Austin stressed that “there’s still time and space for diplomacy to work,” but warned Putin that in case he decides to invade Ukraine, “it will be clear to the entire world that he started a war with diplomatic options left on the table.”

On Tuesday, Russia announced that some of its troops in the western and southern military districts have started returning to garrisons but according to the Biden administration, it directed another 7,000 soldiers to the area.

The US, with its European allies, has been warning since last November that Russia is preparing for aggression against Ukraine after having amassed over 100,000 troops and heavy equipment in and around its neighbor.

Russia has denied it is preparing to invade and accused the Western countries of undermining its security through NATO’s expansion towards its borders.

Source: Anadolu Agency