In seven years of conflict in Donbass, in eastern Ukraine, no less than thirty ceasefires have followed. The last, established on July 27, 2020, has held up the longest, but since January, violations have increased dangerously.
In three months, nineteen Ukrainian soldiers have died, against forty-nine in the whole of 2020. However, it is difficult to know precisely what is happening there: no one has access to the region, except for the observation mission. of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), itself hampered.
Kiev and Moscow accuse each other of this escalation. Thursday 1er April Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of massing its troops on the border and warned of the risk of ” Provocation “. The Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Ruslan Khomtchak, denounced “A threat to military security” Ukrainian, claiming that the separatists numbered 28,000 fighters and “More than 2,000 instructors and military advisers” Russian.
“Russia moves its armed forces on its territory as it sees fit”, retorted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. He wanted to be reassuring: “This does not represent a threat to anyone and should not worry anyone”.
The conflict in Donbass, which claimed more than 13,000 lives, began in 2014 just after Russia’s annexation of Crimea, in the wake of Maidan’s pro-European revolution. Russia is seen as the godfather of the separatists in Donbass by delivering troops, arms and funding to them – which it denies, calling the conflict a ” civil war “.
“Potential imminent crisis”
The United States warned Moscow on Thursday against any attempt to“Intimidation”, denouncing his “Aggressive and provocative acts” in eastern Ukraine. US forces based in Europe have been placed in a phase of enhanced surveillance against a “Potential imminent crisis”, the maximum alert level.
The escalation in the Donbass was discussed, among other topics, during a videoconference meeting on Tuesday between Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron, to which Ukraine had not been. invited. The official report is succinct to say the least. The Elysee simply indicated that the three leaders had underlined “The need for Russia to make a determined commitment to stabilize the ceasefire in Ukraine and work out a way out of the crisis while respecting the Minsk agreements ”, signed in February 2015.
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