Ukraine, Russia trade barbs over shelling & ceasefire violations amid rising tensions

As tensions continue to escalate in Eastern Europe, Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed rebels have traded fresh accusations of shelling and other ceasefire violations along the border regions. As per Russia's Interfax news agency, shelling targeted the Petrivske village in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic on Friday morning. Besides, Luhansk, another self-proclaimed rebel republic, also reported several mortar attacks. However, the Ukrainian government retaliated, claiming that the rebels fired artillery or mortars at least four times on Friday.

Earlier on Thursday, February 17, the Ukrainian military stated that it has no intentions to start an operation against the rebels' positions or to shell civilians. It also pledged to uphold the Minsk agreements as well as norms of international humanitarian law. Ukraine's commander-in-chief, Lieutenant General Valery Zaluzhny also stated that their actions are solely defensive. Notably, the conflict between Kyiv and pro-Russian separatists has raged for years, and the ceasefire between the two sides is regularly violated, but the intensity of the violence has grown significantly this week. 

Ukrainian military recorded 60 ceasefire violations by pro-Russian separatists

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military claimed to have recorded 60 ceasefire violations by pro-Russian separatists in the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) area on Thursday. Separatists used heavy artillery, mortars, and a tank to fire on more than 10 settlements in the country's eastern region, according to a statement by the Ukrainian military. According to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), several shelling incidents were reported across the frontline in eastern Ukraine on Thursday morning.  At least three people were injured in the attack in Stanytsia Luhanska city, that ripped a hole through the wall of a nursery school. 

Russian-backed separatist forces launch artillery attacks

It is worth mentioning here that tensions along the eastern European border skyrocketed as Russian-backed separatist forces launched artillery attacks across the frontlines, striking a nursery school. Russia is believed to have built up roughly 150,000 armed forces near Ukraine's borders, according to a US intelligence report. Despite Moscow's claim that the troops were just being assembled for military and naval drills, western governments expressed fear that Moscow could use them to carry out their plan.

Image: AP