Mysterious explosion in Donetsk
The Russian war scenario is running in the Donbass
2/18/2022, 7:32 p.m
Sirens wail, a car explodes, the separatists in Donbass urge civilians to flee to Russia. A Ukrainian attack is said to be imminent. Putin promises aid payments. Foreign Minister Baerbock warns of misinformation: people refused to get on the buses.
Because of the danger of a military escalation in eastern Ukraine, the Moscow-loyal separatists have asked civilians to flee to neighboring Russia. First, “women, children and the elderly” should be brought to safety, said the head of the Donetsk separatists, Denis Puschilin, in a speech. “A temporary departure will save you and your relatives’ lives.”
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock warned against deliberately spreading misinformation in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Referring to reports of women and children being evacuated from pro-Russian separatists, she said there were also reports that they did not want to board buses that had been provided.
A high-ranking official’s car explodes
Shortly after the separatist leader’s speech, the car of a senior official exploded in front of the government building in Donetsk, local media reported. Nobody was injured. The background was unclear. The leadership of the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Luhansk also called on people to get to safety.
Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the government in Moscow to pay the refugees 10,000 rubles (around 116 euros) in emergency aid. At the same time, according to the Interfax agency, Putin ordered accommodation for residents of Donbass to be provided in Russia. For this purpose, Minister of Civil Protection Alexander Chupriyan should travel to the Rostov-on-Don region immediately. The separatists gathered children at an orphanage to begin evacuations to Russia, according to Interfax.
Kiev categorically rejects plans of attack
The separatists accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of wanting to launch a military offensive “in the near future”. The supreme commander of the Ukrainian army, Valeriy Zalushnyi, once again rejected alleged plans for an attack by Kiev in a video message. “An offensive operation in Donbass inevitably leads to countless civilian casualties, so such scenarios are not even considered,” stressed the 48-year-old. Kiev wants to solve the conflict peacefully. “Don’t believe the occupiers’ lies,” the military said to residents of the separatist areas.
Pushilin, on the other hand, said that the combat troops were ready to defend “national territory” against an attack by Ukraine. “We will win,” he said. Sirens could be heard in videos from Donetsk. Buses were to take people to shelters in neighboring Rostov Oblast in southern Russia. People should only take the most necessary things with them, such as documents, money, change items and medicines.
USA: Evacuations cynical and mendacious
The announcement by pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine that they would be bringing civilians from areas they control to Russia caused outrage in the United States. A spokesman for the US State Department said on the fringes of the Munich Security Conference that it was a “cynical” maneuver in which people were being misused as “pledge”. “It is cynical and cruel to use people as a pawn to distract the world from the fact that Russia is increasing its troops in preparation for an attack.” The pro-Russian rebels’ evacuation announcements are “another attempt to use lies and disinformation to cover up that Russia is the aggressor in the conflict,” the spokesman added.
Observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) recently noticed a massive increase in exchanges of fire. Violations of a ceasefire agreed between separatists and government forces have sparked international concern. According to UN estimates, more than 14,000 people have died in the conflict over the breakaway regions of Luhansk and Donetsk, which has been going on since 2014, most of them in the areas controlled by the separatists.