Numerous ceasefire violations by Russian-backed forces confirmed on Sept. 10

Three incidents of ceasefire violations by
Russian-backed fighters in the Donetsk were reported to have occurred on Sept.
10 by the Joint Forces Operation headquarters on its Facebook page. The first
incident, reported at 2:15 p.m., involved rifle fire in the vicinity of Shumy
in the Donetsk region, the same district where an OSCE-led inspection was
scheduled to have taken place that day of an alleged violation on Sept. 5.
Another two violations, also involving rifle fire, were reported in the
vicinity of Zolote, which is targeted for a border checkpoint opening by
November. Ukrainian reconnaissance enabled the army to secure the positions of
it soldiers, as well as officials with the OSCE and the Joint Centre for
Control and Coordination. The joint centre also published on Sept. 10 its list
of recent ceasefire violations by Russian-backed forces, including the digging
of trenches on Sept. 7 and 8, as well as the illegal presence of 16
self-propelled howitzers, six towed howitzers and three anti-aircraft systems
in the vicinity of Pokrovka in the Donetsk region.

A controversial OSCE-led inspection of
Ukrainian-controlled territory in the vicinity of Shumy, the site of a
ceasefire violation alleged on Sept. 5, was canceled owing to new demands of
the inspection conditions made by the Russian-backed forces, said on Sept. 10
Leonid Kravchuk, the head of Ukraine’s delegation to the Trilateral Contact
Group. The inspection scheduled to occur that afternoon drew much criticism for
planning to include Russian-backed fighters. “The inspection won’t occur today.
It’s not being postponed, but temporarily canceled so far,” he said, as
reported by the pravda.com.ua news site. The demands of the Russian-backed
forces were not raised during a Sept. 9 video conference, he said. They include
visiting a new list of sites, conducting photography and video-recording, and
signing a joint protocol. These demands grossly violate the agreements reached
on Sept. 9, Kravchuk said.

Zenon Zawada: It looks as
though we are witnessing the beginning of the end of the July 27 ceasefire,
which has lasted about month-and-a-half. It’s worth noting that critics say a
ceasefire was never achieved, with 829 violations (among them 667 shootings and
148 explosions) reported by the OSCE during the July-August period, as alleged
by the Media Initiative for Human Rights. Three casualties are also alleged to
have occurred.

The ceasefire disintegration was largely viewed as
inevitable and was triggered by Donbas terrorist leader Denys Pushylin’s threat
of retaliation for alleged Sept. 5 violations. The timing could be related to
trying to undermine the Zelensky administration’s attempts to make more gains
in securing peace (widely viewed as capitulation), particularly ahead of the
October local elections. The Putinist Opposition Platform For Life party stands
to perform well if warfare resumes, at the expense of Zelensky and his People’s
Servant party.