A group of Russian-backed militants late on Jan. 26 conducted a sortie into the demilitarized area of Petrivske in the Donbas war zone, Ukraine’s military said on Jan. 27. Their advance appears to be part of an attempted false flag operation against Ukrainian forces.
The militants broke forward to former combat lines from which Ukrainian forces withdrew as part of a mutual disengagement process in the area in November 2019, according to a report by the Joint Coordination and Control Center (JCCC), the cross-front line liaison body in Donbas.
“Members of the Russian Federation’s militarized formations, making use of terrain features and tall vegetation, stepped into the disengagement area to the Ukrainian positions left behind during the disengagement process and demonstratively opened fire with tracer munitions on (their own positions),” the message reads.
Ukraine’s military believes this was done in a bid make it appear that the Ukrainian forces had advanced and attacked the enemy in violation of the disengagement agreements.
“This happened at a distance of 250 meters away from a surveillance camera of the (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe), which, from Russian armed formation members’ point of view, would provide undeniable evidence that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had violated the disengagement regime,” Ukraine’s party to the JCCC said.
“The goal of such actions could be escalation in the disengagement area, which could lead to (Ukrainian) forces returning to their previous lines or to Russian armed formations occupying new advantageous positions.”
According to the report, the militants did not remain at the old Ukrainian lines and left the location.
Ukrainian troops stand guard at a checkpoint near Ukraine’s new positions near the town of Zolote on Nov. 2, 2019 after they and Russian-backed militants mutually withdrew their forces in the area. (AFP)
The Donbas front line section near the villages of Bohdanivka (Ukrainian-controlled) and Petrivske (Russian-occupied) in central Donetsk Oblast, some 615 kilometers southeast of Kyiv, became the site of the third round of mutual disengagement of weapons and troops between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed militants in early November 2018, part of a peaceful settlement plan for Donbas under the Minsk agreements.
The operation in Petrivske followed two other successful rounds of mutual withdrawal at two other sites: Stanytsya Luhanska and Zolote. As at the other locations, both of the warring parties gradually pulled their troops nearly 1 kilometer back in order to create a safe demilitarized zone between their positions, with forces from both sides staying beyond the zone of direct engagement.
The Ukrainian political and military leadership says this is meant to reduce the intensity of protracted static warfare and, therefore, to reduce or avoid civilian and military casualties in the war zone. Nonetheless, the controversial withdrawal, launched as part of a peace initiative by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, faced severe criticism in the country. Numerous opponents denounced it as “capitulation” to the Kremlin and the surrender of Ukrainian territories.
In particular, critics warned of the risk that Russian-backed militants might take up old positions abandoned by Ukrainian forces.
In a December 2019 interview, Ukraine’s top military commander in Donbas, Lieutenant General Volodymyr Kravchenko, assured the Kyiv Post that, if Russia fails to carry out its side of the deal, Ukrainian forces will be ready to return to their old positions in Petrivske or any other disengagement zone.
The Jan. 26 incident near Petrivske sets a precedent of escalation in disengagement areas, which have previously remained relatively calm and free of casualties, according to Ukraine’s hostilities reports.
In late January, Ukraine’s Joint Forces command also said that Ukrainian diplomats would suggest another three disengagement areas to the Kremlin, particularly at the cross-front line entry point of Hnutove (near the southern port city of Mariupol), as well as by a railroad bridge near Stanysya Luhanska and also at the key city of Avdiyivka.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces continue to suffer fatalities amid ongoing, low-level warfare at other frontline hotspots.
According to Ukrainian hostilities reports, at least 11 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in January so far, with 2 killed as recently as on Jan. 26.
