Ukraine: Pro-Russian separatist leader declares ‘general mobilization’ in Donetsk

The leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, which is at war with Ukraine’s government army, today declared a “general mobilization” amid concerns about a Russian invasion.

“I call on my fellow citizens to report to the military. Today, I signed the general mobilization order,” Dennis Pushilin said in a recorded message.

Mr Pushilin’s announcement came as observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) noted a “dramatic increase” in violence along the front lines between pro-Russian separatists and government troops.

Authorities in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic said today that artillery shells fired by the Ukrainian government army damaged a water station in the Vasilyevka district, which serves areas on both sides of the line, and fired heavy artillery shells.

Electricity supply to part of the area was also cut off.

The situation on the line of contact in the “people’s democracies” of Danetsk and Lugansk has deteriorated rapidly since the day before yesterday, Thursday morning, with heavy gunfire and mortar fire. Authorities in Lugansk have said they are evacuating civilians.

The Ukrainian army announced that 12 violations of the ceasefire agreement were recorded this morning and another 66 in the previous 24 hours.

The Ukrainian staff reported via Facebook that separatists opened fire on more than 20 settlements, even with heavy artillery, something banned under the Minsk agreements.

OSCE observers said earlier that they had recorded 222 ceasefire violations on the front line in the Danetsk region controlled by pro-Russian separatists, including 135 “explosions”, up from 189 on Wednesday and 24 on Tuesday. In the Luhansk region, which is also controlled by pro-Russian separatists, the agency reported 648 violations, including 519 “explosions”, up from 402 on Wednesday and 129 on Tuesday.

Washington has been warning for weeks that Moscow is looking for a pretext to invade Ukraine. Russia has denied the allegations in a statement issued Friday stating “Similar, baseless allegations concerning Russia’s security have been made more than once.

Source: AMPE

Source: Capital

You may also like