Ukraine Day 1247: LIVE UPDATES BELOW. Three Ukrainian soldiers were wounded in battle and two civilians were injured in a shelling attack. A civilian is feared abducted.
Yesterday’s coverage of the Ukraine conflict can be found here.
An Invasion By Any Other Name: The Kremlin’s Dirty War in Ukraine
Homes damaged in Avdeyevka earlier this year. Photo by Ukrainian military.
UPDATED with State Department comment on Malorossiya (see below).
Russia-backed forces attacked Ukrainian positions 10 times, Ukrainska Pravda reported, citing the ATO [Anti-Terrorist Operation]. Three Ukrainian soldiers were wounded in battle.
On the Lugansk line, militants attacked Krymskoye and Donets with small arms and grenade-launchers.
o Aleksandr Zakharchenko, self-styled head of the self-declared “Donetsk People’s Republic” announced today a plan to create the state of “Malorossiya” (Little Russia), AP reported.
The French Foreign Ministry called on Russia to condemn the announcement, which they said violated the Minsk agreements, Ukrainska Pravda reported.
The government of Germany also condemned the announcement, saying Zakharchenko had nbo legitimate right to speak for this part of Ukraine, Ukrainska Pravda reported, citing Deutsche Welle.
The US has not made a statement.
Meanwhile Vladimir Degtyarenko, self-styled head of the self-delcared People’s Council of the “Lugansk People’s Republic” said his group had not taken part in the creation of “Malorossiya”, Ukrainska Pravda reported. He said they had learned of the action from the press.
o Coal-miners are striking in Lugansk Region.
— Catherine A. Fitzpatrick
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