Petrivske forces withdrawal to begin in next two days

The next phase in the forces withdrawal along the
Donbas separation line is scheduled to begin in the next two days in the towns
of Bohdanivka and Petrivske in the Luhansk region, authorities said on Nov. 7.
Joint Forces Operation commander Volodymyr Kravchenko told a press briefing
that day the Petrivske withdrawal will begin on Nov. 8, as a seven-day
ceasefire had been achieved. Yet the Ukrainian side didn’t have confirmation
from the Russian-backed forces that they were ready to move forward, though the
mercenaries reportedly informed the OSCE they were ready to begin on Nov. 9,
the pravda.com.ua news site said. That was confirmed by OSCE Special
Representative Martin Sajdik, who said the Petrivske withdrawal will begin on
Nov. 9, as agreed upon in the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk.

The forces withdrawal requires both sides to remove
their soldiers and military hardware by 1 km from their positions at the separation
line within three days. The withdrawal plans were confirmed by General Staff
Commander Ruslan Khomchak, who led a tour of the area, including the town of
Zolote, for four Western ambassadors, including acting U.S. ambassador William
Taylor, Jr.

Russian-backed forces engaged in 15 shootings of
Ukrainian positions on Nov. 7, killing one soldier and wounding four, as
reported by the Joint Forces Operation press center. In response to the news, Former
Defense Minister Anatoliy Grytsenko called for the Ukrainian army to return its
forces to its frontline positions at Zolote in response to the Russian-backed
shootings on Nov. 7. He called for any future withdrawals to occur only in the
event of a complete ceasefire being upheld for a full month along the entire
separation line.

As an alternative to the current forces withdrawal,
the neoliberal Voice Party MP Serhiy Rakhmanin called for freezing the conflict
in Donbas during a Nov. 7 television talk show. “We currently don’t have the
ability to resolve this matter by military means. We don’t have the ability to
resolve this matter by diplomatic means. But we can stop this in order to
reorganize our thoughts. And the main thing is to return people. There should
be a state program of returning people who are ready to return,” Rakhmanin
said.

Zenon Zawada: We expect
the forces withdrawal to begin today as the Zelensky administration has
demonstrated (with Zolote) that it won’t wait for even the essential conditions
to be fulfilled to move forward. Opposition to the forces withdrawal has been
mute throughout this week. We believe the local pro-Western forces are waiting
for the right moment, perhaps a disaster in the withdrawal of forces, to launch
their political attack against the Zelensky administration.

Rakhmanin’s proposal for freezing the conflict won’t
work because Russia is not interested in a frozen conflict. With Ukraine in
such a vulnerable position as it is today – not only in Donbas, but with IMF
funding under question and a natural gas conflict about to erupt – the Russian
leadership smells blood and is moving in for the kill. Russia understands that
chances like this to either subjugate or liquidate the Ukrainian state might
not come around again, and it won’t waste this opportunity.

As for Grytsenko’s proposal, the Ukrainian public
demonstrated it is not interested in extending the warfare when it voted
overwhelmingly for Zelensky as president. The public has endowed Zelensky with
the task of ending the warfare, and he has demonstrated he will go to great
lengths to achieve it, regardless of the long-term consequences.