Battles continue raging for control of railroad hub of Debaltseve

Fierce military battles continued raging on Feb. 17 for control of Debaltseve, a strategic railroad transit hub in the Donetsk region, reported Dmytro Tymchuk, a military expert and head of the InfoResist web site. Russian-backed separatists razed the local police station and mobilized all their reserve forces in order to take control of the town’s railroad station, he reported.  By night time, the separatists had taken control of part of the city’s territory, reported Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO).  “The terrorist aren’t upholding the cease-fire regime, are shooting the city and its surroundings all day and night, are committing acts of sabotage, and are storming the city and surrounding villages,” he said. “In response to the criminal acts of the fighters, soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and other formations are engaged in maneuvers, restraining with fire the enemy’s aggression.” The OSCE special monitoring mission was unable to enter the territory for a second day, reported the press service of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Since the cease-fire began, the Russian-backed separatists have fired upon Ukrainian forces 164 times, Lysenko said.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called upon the U.S. to fulfill previous statements on granting Ukraine additional means to strengthen its defense in a Feb. 17 telephone call with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden. Poroshenko and Biden agreed that the Minsk cease-fire regime was being violated by constant attacks by Russian-backed separatists.  Poroshenko also thanked the U.S. for its firm support during the day’s meeting of the UN Security Council, the press service of the Presidential Administration reported. Ukrainian Ambassador to the UN Yuriy Sergeyev told the UN Security Council meeting that day that the Russian-backed separatists are threatening to kill all those defending Debaltseve and then attack Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city with is nearly 300 kilometers from separatist-controlled Donetsk.

The Ukrainian government is negotiating with the U.S. government to receive armaments and hardware, recently submitting a list of needs, as well as financial aid of USD 350 mln over three years, Yuriy Biriukov, an advisor to Poroshenko, said in a Feb. 17 television interview. “The Americans haven’t said a categorical ‘no,’’’ he said. “They are saying that the White House hasn’t reached a decision and let’s work on it until it’s reached.”

In a telephone conversation the same day with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Poroshenko described the attacks on Debaltseve as a cynical attack on the Minsk accords and called upon the EU and the entire international community to fiercely react to the trust-ruining actions of the separatists and Russia. “Today the world is supposed to halt an aggressor,” he said. “I turn to the permanent members of the UN Security Council to not allow further violations to the main principles and norms of the UN and the unfolding of full-scale military actions in the very heart of Europe.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin called on the Ukrainian government to “reach an agreement with part of your country and ensure its legal rights” in order to end the military conflict in a Feb. 17 press conference in Budapest, as reported by the RIA Novosti news agency. The sooner shooting stops and hardware is removed from the zone, the sooner the conditions will be created for a political resolution to the conflict, he said. “I am heavily depending on the responsible individuals in the Ukrainian leadership to not interfere with soldiers of the Ukrainian army laying down their arms,” Putin said. At the same time, attacks have declined in the Donbas region since the Minsk Two cease-fire agreement was reached on Feb. 12, he said. “It’s currently an absolutely objective fact – the number of shootings and mutual strikes across entire the conflict line has been reduced by many times,” he said.

Putin and Poroshenko are themselves mired in a conflict over Debaltseve, the Wall Street Journal reported on Feb. 17, citing high-placed sources. Still in Minsk, Putin insisted that Debaltseve was surrounded by separatist forces and the Ukrainian government should surrender the territory. In response, Poroshenko said Ukrainian soldiers weren’t surrounded and insisted the separatist forces back down. Putin tried to play the role of a statesman and assured others that he has full information from the field, though he continued to act as though Russia is not involved in the conflict, the publication reported. The same day, U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt tweeted that the Russia and the separatists are responsible for the cease-fire’s failure.

Zenon Zawada: With his statements and those of the diplomatic corps, Poroshenko is stepping up the pressure on the West to provide armaments and hardware. Meanwhile, the WSJ report is alarming, indicating that Poroshenko and Putin have made political and maybe personal investments in winning control of Debaltseve, which has become the new symbol of just who’s winning the war. Poroshenko’s poll ratings could stand to slip further should Ukraine lose Debaltseve.

Just as in Europe, the far left and the far right forces in the U.S. providing weapons, with the far left having some influence on U.S. President Barack Obama, who continues to refrain. A big factor is public opinion in the West, which is shaped by the mass media. So we don’t expect arms or hardware will be offered until the daily death toll begins to rise and takes its toll on the civilian population, as would be demonstrated on Western television. On Feb. 16, the death toll reached five Ukrainian fighters, for instance, which would not be “enough” to prompt the West into action. On the other hand, the Jan. 24 attack on civilians in Mariupol, killing 31, did prompt the EU into action as it imposed a new round of sanctions.