Despite ceasefire, casualties mounting in Donetsk region
KYIV — Ukrainian rebels in the eastern Donetsk region renewed their call for independence on Wednesday, saying too many people have died in the past six months to accept governance from the capital Kyiv.
“There is no truce, buffer zones are non- existent,” the deputy premier of the selfproclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, Andrei Purgin, said via Russian state news service RIA Novosti.
Purgin said some estimates put the number of deaths during fighting in the Donetsk region alone at 9,000, though the real figure is probably closer to 4,000 or 5,000. That compares with a United Nations estimate of 3,660 deaths and 8,756 injuries from fighting in all of eastern Ukraine. At least 331 of those fatalities occurred after the separatists agreed to a ceasefire in Minsk, Belarus, on Sept. 5, the UN said.
“Such casualties make any political union with Ukraine impossible,” Purgin told RIA.
Ukraine, Canada, the U. S. and the European Union blame Russia for providing weapons, financing and troops to the separatists, a charge Moscow denies. The two sides have exchanged sanctions that have depressed economic growth in both the EU and Russia, causing the latter to flirt with a recession.
Purgin said his government is ready to resume peace talks in Minsk once Russia and the Organization for Security and Co- operation in Europe agree on the conditions. The truce accord, signed by representatives of the rebels, Ukraine, Russia and the OSCE, has yet to be fully observed.
While the rebels will continue to fight if government troops seek to oust them from their strongholds, they’re prepared for more peace talks at any time, Purgin told RIA.
The government in Kyiv blamed rebel shelling in Donetsk and neighbouring Luhansk for its failure to open the way for a buffer zone that was part of the Minsk protocol.