Ukraine, Russia-Backed Separatists Allege Cease-Fire Violations

(Bloomberg) -- Ukraine and Russian-backed separatists blamed each other for what they said was shelling in violation of a cease-fire in the Donbas region Thursday. Both Kyiv and Moscow expressed concern about the apparent uptick in violence.

No deaths were reported and there was no immediate confirmation of the allegations. It wasn’t clear how much of an escalation they may represent in a conflict zone in eastern Ukraine where more than 14,000 have been killed since fighting broke out in 2014. Each side blamed the other for shooting first. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which monitors the line of contact between the two sides, declined to comment on the events pending a regular report due later Thursday.

Still, the claims of truce violations came amid heightened tensions between Russia and the West over Moscow’s buildup of tens of thousands of troops near the Ukrainian border. Though Russian officials have said they have no plans to invade, they have said they could intervene in the event Ukraine attacked the separatist areas, where Russia has given more than 700,000 residents passports. Kyiv has said it has no intention to retake the territories by force.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, on a visit to the war-torn region, called the shelling “a big provocation.” He said he’d raised the issue in a call early Thursday with European Council President Charles Michel. 

The Kremlin is “very, very concerned” by the reports of shelling by both sides, spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, calling on western capitals to “use their influence to warn the Kyiv authorities away from further escalation.”

Ukraine’s military reported shelling from mortars, grenade-launchers and heavy machine guns, including one round that it said hit a kindergarten in the town of Stanytsya Luhanska near the line of contact between the two sides, causing concussions to three employees. In Maryinka, a woman suffered shrapnel wounds when a shell landed near a bus stop, according to Yevhen Kaplin, chief of a humanitarian mission Proliska which operates in several towns in the east. The shelling cut off electricity in several villages near Donetsk, authorities said. Ukraine said its forces returned fire.

The separatists claimed Ukrainian forces fired heavy weapons in more than a dozen places along the line that has divided them since a 2015 cease-fire. In Donetsk, authorities said several homes were damaged. The breakaway regions’ forces fired back, according to official statements.

According to the OSCE, cease-fire violations in the area declined in the last year, but remain a regular occurrence.

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