Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine accused Ukrainian government
forces Thursday of opening fire on their territory four times in the past 24
hours.
It was not immediately clear how serious the incident was and there was no
immediate reaction from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE), which has been monitoring the situation in Eastern Ukraine
but has withdrawn some of its monitors in recent days.
Ukraine's military denies separatist accusations that its forces have
attacked. Instead, they said it was the rebels who opened fire on the
Ukrainian military.
Incidents like that actually happened many times over the past eight years.
However, this clash comes after Russia mustered more than 100,000 troops
near the Ukrainian border.
Any escalation in the years-long conflict between Russia-backed separatists,
who seized swathes of territory in eastern Ukraine in 2014, could stoke
tensions between Russia and the West.
In a statement, representatives of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's
Republic said Ukrainian troops used mortars, grenade launchers and machine
guns in four separate incidents Thursday.
"The Ukrainian Armed Forces have grossly violated the ceasefire regime,
using heavy weapons, which according to the Minsk agreement, must be
withdrawn," said a representative from the Luhansk People's Republic, quoted
by Reuters.
Russia's Lower House of Parliament on Tuesday (15/2) asked President
Vladimir Putin to recognize the two self-proclaimed regions of Eastern
Ukraine as independent states.
But, the Kremlin has hinted, Putin has no immediate plans to do so.