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Aggravation in Donbass. What’s happening


The increase in shelling may be due to the fact that some progress has been made on the Ukrainian side of the contact line in recent years, experts say.

In the first weeks of September, the number of shelling in the Donbas war zone increased by a third compared to August, the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) said.

In turn, the ninth international monitoring mission, organized by the Vostok SOS charitable foundation in partnership with the German organization DRA (German-Russian Exchange) and with financial support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany, showed that the ceasefire was violated not by the armed forces of Ukraine, but by pro-Russian militants …

Civilian casualties in Donbass

The OSCE Special Representative in Ukraine and the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG), Finnish diplomat Mikko Kinnunen said about the unstable security situation in the war zone in Donbass.

“In the first two weeks of September 2021, the OSCE SMM reported an average of 273 ceasefire violations daily, which is about 30 percent more than in August,” the OSCE website quoted Kinnunen as saying.

The Finnish diplomat drew attention to the increase in the number of civilian casualties. According to him, 11 civilians were killed in August.

“This is the largest number of civilian casualties per month since the entry into force of the agreement to strengthen the ceasefire in July 2020,” said Kinnunen.

The OSCE Special Representative in Ukraine said that the Trilateral Contact Group has not yet been able to agree on an “Addendum to the Agreement on Strengthening the Ceasefire” due to “disagreements about the nature of a possible new coordination and verification mechanism.”

The OSCE SMM does not name those responsible for the increase in shelling. In contrast to the mission representatives, the participants in the international monitoring mission from the Czech Republic, Germany and Latvia, who have visited settlements along the entire front line over the past month, unequivocally blame “Russian proxy forces” for the escalation of shelling.

Shelling of objects in the rear of the Ukrainian army

The executive director of Vostok SOS Konstantin Reutsky, announcing the preliminary results of the work of the international mission in Kiev on September 15, announced a change in tactics by the pro-Russian militants.

If all three previous years usually fired at forward military positions, now, according to Reutsky, one can observe “how Russian proxy forces are shelling objects deep in the rear of the Ukrainian army, located five, seven or even ten kilometers” from the front line.

“Of course, all this leads to the fact that both residential areas and civilian infrastructure are under fire. Therefore, the number of civilian casualties is also growing alarmingly,” Reutsky said.

The annexation of Donbass. Than the elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation threaten

These observations were confirmed by the participant of the monitoring mission from Latvia Evija Dyatkovitsa. She noted that shelling by pro-Russian forces occurs at any time of the day and does not follow any schedule. According to the expert, this only increases the risk of local residents becoming victims of these attacks.

In turn, a member of the international monitoring mission from Germany, DRA expert Tim Bose said that communication with the victims of the shelling made a depressing impression on him.

“Very often these are elderly people who have no opportunity to leave, and they are forced to live in hot spots. For the last three years everything was more or less calm, but now the shelling has resumed again. And this is scary not only for those people who were injured or lost relatives. This is scary for all residents of Avdiivka, who are shocked and do not understand what is happening, “Bose said.

Reaction to positive changes in Ukraine?

The increase in shelling may be due to the fact that some progress has been made on the Ukrainian side of the contact line in recent years, David Stulik, a member of the monitoring mission from the Czech Republic, senior analyst at the European Values ​​Research Center, did not rule out.

“We talked with many people who crossed the demarcation line in Stanytsia Luhanska and Novotroitsky, and they admit that Ukraine is better now. Therefore, we assume that the“ LPR ”/“ DPR ”do not want to let citizens into the territory controlled by Ukraine, and what exactly therefore, only these two checkpoints are now open, “Stulik said.

A participant in the monitoring mission from the Czech Republic drew attention to such facts as not only stabilization, but also the development of the largest cities in the region, as well as ensuring the long-awaited access of local residents to the Ukrainian press and television.

“But we also met many more people who still believe that they are being hit by the Ukrainian army. It is very difficult to convince these people that this is not so, because they still perceive Russian propaganda (…) With young people, which adheres to the same point of view, we have not met, “said David Stulik.

A source: DW Ukraine

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