New Harvest Ceasefire Declared; Some Fighting Continues; 1 Ukrainian Soldier Wounded

Ukrainian soldiers train on a river in Donetsk Region building a pontoon bridge. Photo by ATO

Ukraine Day 1220: LIVE UPDATES BELOW. The Ukrainian government and the separatists agreed on a harvest cease-fire for two weeks today. Fighting continued at a lesser level.

Yesterday’s coverage of the Ukraine conflict can be found here.

An Invasion By Any Other Name: The Kremlinâ€™s Dirty War in Ukraine

2017-06-22 06:54:15

Ukrainian soldier trains with a service dog.

The Ukrainian government and the Russia-backed separatists were said to have agreed on a new cease-fire today, according to Darka Olifer, spokesperson for Ukrainian government envoy Leonid Kuchma at the Trilateral Group talks. The separatists were said to agree to a ceasefire to enable civilians to harvest their crops.

fetching tweet…

Even so, the Ukrainian Anti-Terrorist Operation [ATO] said the Russia-backed militants actively attacked them before dawn although they lessened their activity somewhat during the day, Ukrainska Pravda reported, citing the ATO evening dispatch at 18:00.

Most of the attacks were along the Maritime line. Grenade-launchers and small arms were fired repeatedly on Vodyanoye, Gnutovo, Talakovka, Maryinka and Krasnogorovka.

Meanwhile on the Donetsk line, there was just one attack near Luganskoye at the Svetlodarsk Bulg with automatic grenade-launchers and heavy machine guns.

On the Lugansk line, fighters used artillery banned under the Minsk agreement to attack Tryokhizbenka with 120-mm mortars; they also fired heavy machine guns near Sloyev Ugol and Stanitsa Luganskaya. There were no casualties reported today.

Earlier, in the 6:00 am dispatch, the ATO reported 36 attacks in the previous reporting period and one Ukrainian soldier wounded. Most of the action was on the Bakhmut Highway where Ukrainian positions were attacked with heavy artillery, notably at Krymskoye with 152-mm artillery and 120-mm mortar-launchers; 82-mm mortars were fired at Ukrainian positions at Novozvanovka. The “quiet regimen” was violated at Schastye, Stanitsa Luganskaya and Novoaleksandrovka with grenade-launchers and small arms.

Ukrainian troops trained on a river in Donetsk Region in making pontoon bridges and driving about 30 armored vehicles over them, the National Security and Defense Council reported today at a briefing. They also trained with service dogs for use in tracking people and spent ammunition.

They also said 3 persons suspected of attempting to trade about $4,000 worth of weapons were apprehended. The weapons included Kalashnikovs, pistols with silencers, ammunition, and grenades.

— Catherine A. Fitzpatrick

Note: The Interpreter has lost its funding!

Donate to this author to keep news and translations coming.

Related Articles