Separatists fight to gain land ahead of ceasefire
ARTEMIVSK, Ukraine — Russianbacked separatists mounted a vicious assault Friday in eastern Ukraine ahead of a weekend ceasefire deadline, pummeling a strategic railway hub with wave upon wave of shelling in a last-minute grab for territory. At least 26 people were killed across the region.
The fiercest confrontations focused on the government-held town of Debaltseve, a key transport centre that has been on the receiving end of dozens of artillery and rocket salvos in the 24-hour period after the peace deal was sealed Thursday by the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France.
The deadline for the warring sides to halt hostilities is Sunday at one minute after midnight. InterfaxUkraine news agency quoted Petro Mekhed, Ukraine’s deputy defence minister, as saying separatist forces had been tasked with hoisting their flags over Debaltseve, as well as the key port city of Mariupol, before the ceasefire takes hold.
Military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said 11 soldiers have been killed and 40 wounded across eastern Ukraine since the agreement was reached in the Belarusian capital, Minsk. At least eight civilians also have died in government-controlled territory, regional authorities loyal to Kyiv said, while the rebels said seven civilians were killed in artillery attacks on the separatist-held cities of Luhansk and Horlivka.
In recent days, separatist fighters have nearly completely encircled Ukrainian forces in Debaltseve, where all but a few thousand civilians have fled the fighting.
Ukraine says Debaltseve should remain in government control under the terms of a September peace deal. A copy of that agreement leaked to Ukrainian media shows the town lying on the government’s side of the line of division agreed by both the rebels and Ukrainian officials.
But even as Thursday’s peace deal was announced, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko appeared to disagree over the town’s future. Putin said the rebels consider the Ukrainian forces there surrounded and expect them to surrender, while Ukraine insisted its troops have not been blocked.
On Friday, Ukrainian access to the sole highway linking Debaltseve to government-held territory looked to have been compromised with the apparent capture of Lohvynove, a village just to the north.
The Donbass Battalion, a unit with Ukraine’s National Guard that is engaged in battles around Lohvynove, said in a statement captured combatants had confirmed Russian troops were actively involved in the battles.
Moscow vehemently denies it provides manpower and weapons to the rebel forces, but the sheer quantity of powerful weapons at the separatists’ disposal belies that assertion.
Russian state news agency RIANovosti quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying Friday Moscow would act only as a guarantor in the peace process and could not affect developments on the ground.
“We simply cannot do this physically, because Russia is not a participant in this conflict,” Peskov was quoted as saying.
Elsewhere, by the Azov Sea in southeastern Ukraine, government troops said they had retaken a handful of villages. Troops there have denied reporters access to those operations, which aim to push rebel fighters back from the government-held port of Mariupol. The ceasefire is to be monitored by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s observer mission in Ukraine.
OSCE secretary general Lamberto Zannier said in Kyiv he hoped hostilities would be halted by the deadline.
“We would really hope to see a decrease already between now and that moment,” he said.
“WE WOULD REALLY
HOPE TO SEE A DECREASE ALREADY
BETWEEN NOW AND THAT MOMENT (OF THE CEASEFIRE.)”
LAMBERTO ZANNIER