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Russian-terrorist forces continue daily attacks on Ukrainian positions

Russian-terrorist forces continue daily attacks on Ukrainian positions

29 September 2014

Pro-Russian forces are ignoring the Sept. 5 Minsk ceasefire protocol and are continuing to shoot at anti-terrorism operation (ATO) positions and civilian residents, reported on Sept. 28 Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for the National Security and Defense Council. They are using rifles, artillery and mortars in their attacks on the Donetsk airport, the cities of Shchastia and Avdiyivka, the outskirts of the key port city of Mariupol, and the key railroad station of Debaltseve, he said. The shootings aimed at the government’s ATO positions are being conducted by illegal military formations that aren’t subject to any authority, Lysenko said.

 

Russian-terrorist armies shot at Ukraine’s ATO forces 72 times in the 24 hours leading up to the morning of Sept. 28, reported Dmytro Tymchuk, the director of the Information Resistance news site. As a result, two civilians were killed and three wounded from the shootings, in which mortars and artillery were used. On Sept. 27, shootings continued in the city of Donetsk and the outskirts of Mariupol, reported local news sites.

 

The medical situation in the city of Luhansk has significantly worsened, reported on Sept. 27 Volodymyr Polioviy, a spokesman for the National Security and Defense Council. Medicine and medical personnel are lacking, particular pediatricians. Social payments have been halted in those areas of the Luhansk region controlled by the Russian-terrorist forces. More than 170,000 residents in the region lack access to natural gas heating. Numerous cities and villages lack running water, though the city of Luhansk is being supplied.

 

Russian volunteers have participated in the warfare in eastern Ukraine, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the Bloomberg news agency in an interview broadcast on Sept. 28. “There are many volunteers there, many of which are Russians,” he said. “But yesterday on television an American was shown, of whom an interview was taken. He was wearing a balaclava. There were Russian citizens who fought in the battalions created and paid for by Ukrainian oligarchs. Many Poles, Lithuanians and Europeans fought in these battalions, but some fought on the side of the rebels.”

 

The Russian government never denied that Russian volunteers were fighting in the war in Ukraine, Lavrov said. “There was an episode when an armored carrier of the Russian army ended up in Ukrainian territory, but there were many opposite cases when Ukrainian armored carriers ended up deep in Russia,” he said. “In all episodes, they stated there was a mistake, after which they were released. But the issue is not who is fighting and what country is sending aid to whom. If to concentrate on that, then we will be talking forever. The main thing is to begin a national dialogue.”

 

The leaders of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republic sometimes listen to Russian officials, “but not always,” Lavrov said. The Russian government knows these people, he said. “They sometimes come to Russia, speak on television and explain their position because, obviously, they don’t have access to Ukrainian television,” he said. The Russian government will do everything in its efforts to support the fulfillment of the Minsk ceasefire and achieve a full resolution, which he said is already being fulfilled. “But we will do this because of our closeness with the Ukrainian people, … and not to bring joy to someone across the ocean,” he said.

 

The Russian government should be using all its means of influence on the fighters in eastern Ukraine to ensure a full and lasting ceasefire regime, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during a Sept. 27 meeting, according to a UN statement. In his address to the UN, Lavrov said the U.S. and EU governments have been aggravating the situation in eastern Europe and supported the revolution in Ukraine. They have been “justifying any actions of the self-declared Kyiv government,” he said.

 

In creating self-governance zones in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, the Ukrainian government by no means intends of implementing a federal government structure, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko told the 1+1 television news network in an interview broadcast on Sept. 28. “Ukraine is and will be a single state,” Poroshenko said. “There won’t be any federalization.”

 

Zenon Zawada: The conflict in the Donbas region has reached a certain stasis in which there’s daily sporadic shooting, daily isolated assaults on Ukrainian forces and occasional casualties and injuries. But there’s clearly a lull in the fighting since the Sept. 5 ceasefire, which is certainly a positive development.

 

Lavrov’s comments demonstrate the Russian government is creating an entirely alternate reality of the conflict. When admitting to the presence of “Russian volunteers,” after months of denials of any Russian forces, Lavrov equated their massive presence (which, in the form of official army units, proved decisive to the separatists’ victory) to that of a handful of foreign soldiers. He conveniently neglected to mention the overwhelming presence of Russian arms and hardware on Ukrainian territory.

 

The notion that the Russian government is motivated by “closeness” with Ukraine is upholding the ceasefire would only be perceived as ridiculous among Ukrainians, who can appreciate the true motivator, which is the powerful effect of the Western sanctions. It’s the Russians’ alternative reality that causes us to worry about the conflict reigniting. That’s particularly the case when the Russians indicated they won’t settle for anything less than federalization, which the Ukrainian government rejects outright.

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