Russia-led exercises fuel fears of attack

UKRAINE

Russia is leading “largescale military exercises” of separatist forces in the east of Ukraine, Kyiv said Tuesday, as concerns intensify over an invasion comparable with the 2014 annexation of Crimea.

Fears for the Donbass region, where areas are under the control of Russian-backed separatists, flared earlier this month when Moscow started moving troops towards the border with Ukraine. In a rare statement, Ukrainian military intelligence said that separatists in both the Donetsk and Luhansk areas had mobilized their forces, including reservists, for drills that kicked off at the start of the week under the direction of the Russian military.

The Kremlin on Tuesday insisted that it was not planning to launch an attack.

“Russia is not harbouring any aggressive plans. It would be wrong to suggest otherwise,” said Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Vladimir Putin.

Moscow has accused Kyiv of dragging its feet on implementing peace accords from 2015, and claimed that the Ukrainian side is attacking the separatists. The Ukrainian defence ministry reported injuries to three soldiers in the region Monday.

Moscow has long denied its military involvement in eastern Ukraine despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, showing Russia deployed forces to flashpoints in the Donbass and dispatched senior officials to train local forces. Reports of the exercises came as the defence ministers in Russia and China, which already hold joint drills, agreed to further boost military co-operation. Sergei Shoigu, the Russian defence minister, complained that an “increased number” of U.S. aircraft was patrolling near his country’s eastern border, which he described as a threat to both Moscow and Beijing.

He accused U.S. bombers of rehearsing a nuclear strike on Russia from two different directions earlier this month and complained that the planes had come within 21 km of the border. The Kremlin, meanwhile, lambasted Washington over reports it was planning to send weapons and military advisers to Ukraine in a show of solidarity.

Peskov said this would “definitely lead to a further escalation on the front line.”

A ceasefire and withdrawal from the frontline were agreed in a 2015 peace deal negotiated in Minsk. Government troops and separatists have withdrawn their weaponry several times on camera, only to move back later. Peskov said: “Complying with the Minsk agreements will certainly be the best security guarantee since the lack of progress in their implementation remains a significant irritant and a catalyst that leads to heightened tension in Europe.”