Fighting Rages In The Donbass As Ukraine’s Intel Warns Of New Russian Weapons Arriving

Once again, fighting has raged in Ukraine. Earlier on Sunday, the spokesperson for the Ukrainian Presidential Administration for Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) issues, Oleksandr Motuzianyk, reported that Ukrainian positions had been targetted by Russian-backed fighters more than 50 times. Unian reports:

“One Ukrainian serviceman was killed and another three were wounded in hostilities in the past 24 hours,” he said on Sunday.

According to Unian, two civil volunteers from Kiev were injured in an incident in Pesky, near Donetsk:

Investigators arrived at the hospital to establish circumstances of the incident. They found out that the two civil volunteers, males aged 36 and 37, were heading for the village of Vodiane when their minibus came under mortar fire near Pisky. One man obtained a shoulder wound, while the other had his chest wounded.

Ukraine Today reports that according to the Ukrainian intelligence agency new Russian weapons have just arrived in Debaltseve after having been transported by train:

According to the Chief Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine, a train with military equipment, including three tanks, two 122mm Grad multiple-launch rocket system, two Ural military trucks and 160 tons of gas oil, has arrived to the railway station of Debaltseve, a town which saw intense fighting during January-February 2015.

One of the fears about Ukraine’s loss at Debaltseve more than a year ago was that the Russian-backed fighters could move personnel or equipment, by rail, from the Russian border all the way to the front lines near Donetsk. We cannot confirm these report, however, as pictures and video of this rail line in Ukraine have become very rare. Also, the Ukrainian intelligence agency has been making many unconfirmed-but-troubling claims recently, while the ATO office seems to more often be more cautious in its statements.

— James Miller