By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch, Managing Editor
KIEV, Ukraine – The ceasefire between pro-Russian forces and the Ukrainian military, brokered by France and Germany, is broadly holding at the front line in eastern Ukraine, but the events of the last several days have put new strained on the fragile truce. Pro-Russian fighters in the separatist stronghold of Donetsk are reportedly training for another round of clashes against Ukraine’s government troops. Under the watch of rebel commanders, fighters have fired automatic assault rifles, grenade launchers and even an anti-tank missile at targets propped against refuse discarded by a local mine on Sunday. The training operations came just a day after the murder of Boris Nemtsov, a Putin critic and opponent of the war in Ukraine, who was gunned down in Moscow on Saturday night. Nemtsov was reportedly planning to publish evidence of Russia’s presence in eastern Ukraine.
“We don’t want this war”, said Yegor, a commander of the rebels, who claim to be serving the new Republican Guard created by the leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, Alexander Zacharchenko. “But when we see what’s happening on the other (Ukrainian) side we’re preparing for the worst.”
On Monday the Ukrainian military reported that one Ukrainian serviceman was killed and four more wounded in separatist eastern territories in the past 24 hours. The Ukrainian government reported a sharp drop in attacks from pro-Russian separatists over weekend but warned that rebels may be using the ceasefire as a means of repositioning for future combat. Military spokesman Andriy Lysenko also claimed that pro-Russian rebels continue to receive a “significant” amount of military equipment from neighboring Russia, a claim continually denied by the Putin regime. “The enemy is moving heavy weapons and military equipment, primarily in the area of Mariupol,” Lysenko said in a televised briefing. “If the situation doesn’t worsen, then the Ukrainian side will continue to pull back weapons. For now the process of withdrawal is ongoing,” Lysenko said.
The United Nations announced on Monday that a sharp escalation in the fighting in eastern Ukraine from mid-January to mid-February led to the death of at least 842 people and left more than 3,400 people wounded, with hundreds missing and many buried without their deaths being recorded. Ivan Simonovic, the United Nations assistant secretary general, reported that in total more than 6,000 people had been killed since the conflict began last April. “Credible reports indicate a continuing influx of heavy and sophisticated weaponry to armed groups in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as foreign fighters, including from the Russian Federation,” the United Nations Said.
For More Information Please See:
The New York Times – Fighting In Ukraine Has Killed Over 840 since Mid-January, U.N. Says – 2 March 2015
Reuters UK – Pro-Russian Rebels Train For More Fighting Despite Ukraine Truce – 2 March 2015
Reuters – Ukraine’s Military Says One Ukrainian Serviceman Killed In Past 24 Hours – 2 March 2015
Forbes – Nemtsov and the Crisis in Ukraine – 1 March 2015
