Ukraine Day 1112: LIVE UPDATES BELOW.
Yesterday’s live coverage of the Ukraine conflict can be found here.
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An Invasion By Any Other Name: The Kremlin’s Dirty War in Ukraine
Once again, the spokesperson for the Ukrainian military’s Anti-Terror Operation (ATO) took to the podium on Sunday to announce that the Russian-backed fighters had broken the ceasefire more than 100 times in the previous 24 hours.
Ten Ukrainian soldiers were wounded and one killed in 110 incidents across the front. Of particular note, heavy weaponry such as 122 mm and 152 mm artillery pieces were reportedly used — weapons that are banned by the Minsk agreement, the current peace process that has failed to produce a sustainable ceasefire since it was introduced in September 2014.
In the Mariupol sector, “122mm artillery systems and mortars of various calibers” were used to shell villages across the front, according to Unian.info. In the Lugansk sector, both 122 mm and 152 mm artillery was used.
Unian reports:
“The villages of Kalynove-Popasna, Novozvanivka and Troyitske in the Luhansk sector were attacked with the use of 152mm artillery systems, while 122mm artillery systems and mortars of various calibers shelled the villages of Novo-Oleksandrivka, Krymske, Orikhove, Katerynivka, Troyitske, and Novozvanivka, and the town of Popasna. Antitank guided missile launchers were repeatedly used to shell our positions near the village of Krymske. They fired grenade launchers and large-caliber machine guns on the village of Stanytsia Luhanska, which is an area of disengagement. Stanytsia Luhanska and the village of Valuyske also came under sniper fire,” it said.
Tanks, mortars, and sniper fire were also reported in multiple locations across the Donetsk sector.
ATO HQ: 10 WIA's, 1 KIA amid 110 attacks on Ukraine in Donbas in last day
The total number of attacks on Ukrainian positions over the period under review was 110, the ATO HQ said. Read also Ukraine reports 115 enemy attacks, 2 WIA in last day The occupiers in the Mariupol sector used proscribed 122mm artillery systems and mortars of various calibers to shell the villages of Bohdanivka, Novotroyitske, Vodiane, and the town of Maryinka.
As you can see, fighting has significantly ramped up this week, even going beyond its previously-elevated levels that we have seen since roughly the middle of January — since around the time of the inauguration of Donald Trump. Since December it has also been clear that the Russian military has played a direct role in this fighting, as heavy artillery, Grad rockets, and sophisticated electronic warfare equipment has been used off and on throughout this period of escalation.
A glance at the headlines over the last few days:
OHCHR: Civilian casualties in Donbas double in past two months
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has reported that the number of civilian casualties in Donbas doubled in January-February 2017 compared to the previous reporting period of November-December 2016. News 05 March from UNIAN.