Ukraine under Fire 112 Times despite Ceasefire
Ukrainian forces have come under fire from pro-Russian rebels over 100 times in the last 24 hours, despite a ceasefire coming into force at midnight on Saturday, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said Monday.
"We and the Ukraine armed forces are fully observing the ceasefire regime but unfortunately in response we have received 112 fire attacks in the past 24 hours from the terrorists of Donetsk and Lugansk," Klimkin said during a visit to Sofia.
He added that the attacks were "shellings with mortar artillery and Grad (rockets)."
"Unfortunately the situation remains extremely tense," he said.
The shaky new truce in Ukraine was already at risk Monday as Kiev said there was "no question" of its troops pulling back heavy weapons, as required under a European-mediated truce agreed last week.
Speaking at a press conference in Sofia, Klimkin insisted however that: "We are fully committed to adhering to the Minsk agreements. For us this is the only possible way to peace."
"What is necessary now is a stopping of the fire, a withdrawal of the heavy artillery and a start of the exchange of prisoners so that humanitarian aid can get to the people and they receive at least medications and foodstuffs and we can start the political process again."
"There is no question at the moment of us withdrawing heavy weapons" from the frontline because of persistent attacks by pro-Russian rebels, a Ukrainian military spokesman, Vladyslav Seleznyov, told Agence France Presse.
Pulling back tanks, artillery and rockets from the frontline in Ukraine's east is meant to take place from midnight (2200 GMT) on Monday as the second phase of a European-mediated truce agreed last week.
But while OSCE monitors said the ceasefire that came into effect on Sunday was being generally followed, shelling was unabated around Debaltseve, a strategic railway hub linking the two main rebel-held cities of Donestk and Lugansk.
Thousands of government troops are in the hotspot town, mostly surrounded by pro-Russian separatists, some of whom have told AFP they were waiting for an order to take Debaltseve.
The situation around Debaltseve remains "dynamic" after troops repelled several rebel assaults, Seleznyov told a Kiev media conference on Monday.
The separatists early Monday "resumed shelling" and destroyed Debaltseve's police station without causing any casualties, a regional government official, Vyacheslav Abroskin, said on his Facebook page.
Journalists were unable to safely access the town to verify the claims.
Monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) had observed shelling around Debaltseve on Sunday but were barred access by rebels.
"We plan to go to Debaltseve today (Monday), but that depends on several factors," a member of the OSCE team, Iryna Gudyma, told AFP by telephone. "We cannot risk the lives of our observers."
Later on Monday, pro-Russian rebels in east Ukraine said Monday they will only start pulling back weapons from the frontline under a peace deal once there is a "full ceasefire".
"In accordance with the Minsk agreement, the withdrawal of military hardware can only happen under certain conditions and one of them is a full ceasefire," Eduard Basurin, a spokesman for the defense ministry of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic was quoted as saying by the rebels' official news agency.
Under a peace plan inked by the rebels and Kiev both sides were meant to start withdrawing heavy weaponry from the frontline no later than two days after the start of a truce that was meant to come into effect from 2200 GMT Saturday.
"If the Ukrainian army does not stop shooting and violating the Minsk agreement then the forces of the Donetsk People's Republic will not withdraw their arms," Basurin said.
The last-ditch peace deal signed in Minsk afer tortuous talks between the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany was seen as the best hope of ending 10 months of conflict that has cost over 5,480 lives.
Ukrainian military spokesman Vladyslav Seleznyov told AFP that there was "no question" at the moment of Ukraine withdrawing its heavy arms to create a buffer zone that was intended to stretch up to 140 kilometers (87 miles).
Source: Agence France Presse
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://cdn.naharnet.com/stories/en/167655 |