Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Tensions still continue to hit Ukraine. This time, a shootout occurred in the early hours of Thursday (17/2/2022) in eastern Ukraine, between Kyiv government forces and pro-Russian rebels.
Both sides have indeed been at war for years. The ceasefire that was made was even violated many times.
quote Reuters, both the government and the rebels have accused each other of shooting across the ceasefire line. Pro -Russian rebels, for example, have accused government forces of firing on their territory four times in the last 24 hours.
Meanwhile, the government says militia shot at a kindergarten in Stanytsia Luhanska in the Luhansk region of Ukraine. Video footage released by police showed a hole through a brick wall in a room filled with debris and children’s toys.
“Some provocations were planned today, we anticipated them and thought that the war had started,” said a resident of Stanytsia Luhanska village, Dmytro.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the action of pro-Russian militiamen who opened fire on a kindergarten was a “major provocation”. Meanwhile, Russia through the Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was very concerned about this labpran and said Kyiv wanted to seize rebel territory by force.
This has further raised Western concerns about a potential Russian attack on Ukraine. The US and NATO have previously accused Russia of preparing to invade by deploying more than 100,000 troops on the Ukrainian border, although Moscow has denied this and released photos and videos of the monarchy of troops.
In a recent report by Estonia, a NATO country in Eastern Europe, its foreign intelligence agency said Russia was likely to launch a limited military strike. The attack would include the bombardment of missile weapons and the occupation of “main ground” in Ukraine.
“Right now, our assessment is that they will avoid cities with large populations, as it takes a lot of troops to control those areas,” said Mikk Marran, director general of Estonia’s Foreign Intelligence Service.
“But there is no clear understanding of what avenues Russian forces might exploit.”
Chances are, Russia will intensify fighting in the region that is about to break away from Ukraine and is supported by Moscow. This is attributed to the support of anti-government militias in Eastern Ukraine.
The US White House spokesman also said on Thursday that Russia had added 7,000 troops to its presence at the Ukrainian border over the past 24 hours. This is different from withdrawing troops.
“We are seeing them flying in more combat and support aircraft. We are seeing them sharpening their readiness in the Black Sea,” US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
“We even saw them stockpile their blood supply.”
Maxar Technologies, a private US company that tracks Russian troops across the border, said satellite images showed Russia had temporarily recalled some military equipment from near Ukraine. “Other hardware has arrived,” Reuters quoted the company as saying.
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