Deteriorating situation in eastern Ukraine

“At the moment, we are witnessing an exacerbation of the situation,” Putin told a news conference with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko in Moscow on Friday afternoon.

The two met to discuss security policy.

On the same day, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu spoke with his US counterpart Lloyd Austin on the phone. Austin urged Shoigu to help reduce the situation by withdrawing Russian troops from the border and finding a diplomatic solution.

False provocations

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Russia created “false provocations” in Ukraine in the past 24 to 48 hours.

Blinken said at a security conference in Munich on Friday that the bombings in eastern Ukraine over the past 48 hours are part of Russia’s attempt to create “false provocations” to justify further “aggression” against Ukraine.

The statement comes on the same day that Denis Pushlin, the leader of the breakaway region of Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, announced that he had begun a mass evacuation to Russia.

According to the separatists, Ukrainian government forces attacked the area with artillery on Friday night and destroyed two substations.

For its part, the Ukrainian army accused the separatists of more than 20 ceasefire violations in the last hours, but this has not been independently confirmed.

Mass Eviction Alerts

The self-proclaimed leader of the breakaway region of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine said on Friday that they had begun a mass evacuation of civilians to Russia.

– Since today, a mass evacuation of residents to Russia has been organized. Women, children and the elderly will be evacuated first, says Pushlin, who accuses Ukrainian government forces of planning an attack on Donetsk.

“In the near future, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will order his forces to launch an offensive,” said Pushlin, who has held the presidency of Donetsk since 2014.

There are just over 4.1 million people living in the Donetsk region, and most of them are Russian-speaking.

The separatists have been in control of Donetsk and Luhansk for nearly eight years. They receive financial and military support from Russia, and up to 1 million Russian passports will also be distributed in the two regions since 2019.

Asking for a ceasefire

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday called for a halt to artillery attacks in eastern Ukraine.

– Bombing has resumed in the seam area. “Firstly, we want to call for a cessation of military action and a rapid reduction, and secondly, we want to resume constructive negotiations,” Macron said after the EU-Africa summit in Brussels.

According to the separatists in eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian government forces attacked the area with artillery on Friday night, destroying two substations.

For its part, the Ukrainian army accused the separatists of more than 20 ceasefire violations in the last hours.