The tension now seems to be at its peak between Russia and Ukraine after Vladimir Putin’s speech on Monday evening February 21, at the end of which the Russian head of state immediately signed a decree recognizing the independence of the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, as well as an assistance treaty. In the evening, the Kremlin began to transfer to Ukrainian separatist territories what Moscow calls “peacekeeping forces”.
The Russian President was still speaking on Monday evening, February 21, when whole columns of tanks, troop transport trucks, massive, impressive convoys were reported overnight in the Donetsk region on the main axes of the territory. . Officially, Russian forces assume peacekeeping dutiesbut nothing, neither calendar, nor information on the extent of the deployment is communicated.
Due to the late hour at which Vladimir Putin signed the acts of independence of the breakaway republics, in Mariupol, the last major city in eastern Ukraine controlled by Kiev, only about twenty kilometers from the front line, it is above all on social networks that Ukrainians have expressed their emotion, their anger , even their amazement at this very long monologue by the Russian president in the form of a charge against their country. As he always does and has done for years when he talks about Ukraine, the Russian president has made a long historical development to deny its existence as a state, its sovereignty. Ukraine and its current government have been portrayed in harsh words like ” a corrupt country », « handed over to terrorists, radicals who organized terror and committed crimes “. He also took up the regularly agitated rhetoric on an ongoing genocide in Donbass and more classic, he evoked the threats which would weigh on Russia. A surprise strike, says Vladimir Putin.
” Mariupol is Ukraine »
A small group of activists nevertheless came out around midnight in one of the city’s central squares to shout: ” Mariupol is Ukraine. Because it is indeed the concern here that the Russian columns entering the Donbass are tempted to go beyond the separatist territories and that they launch an assault to reach localities still under Ukrainian administration. In this city, many remember with concern that brief moment when, at the start of the war almost eight years ago, this strategic industrial port on the Sea of Azov was in the hands of pro-Russian separatists.
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For others, Vladimir Putin’s gesture is only the confirmation of an established fact that Russia has occupied these territories from the beginning. The fear is that with this release de facto of the Minsk Accords, Moscow is no longer bound to observe the ceasefire regime. Finally, others fear provocations that could serve as a pretext for a large-scale war against Ukraine.
Increase in bombardments in the Donbass
From Severodonetsk, in the Donbass, not far from the front line, it is also on social networks that our correspondent in Ukraine, Stephane Siohan was able to gather, rather coming from Kiev, the feeling of the Ukrainians after the speech of the Russian president. A mixture of amazement in front of Putin’s revisionist historical logorrhea. The reactions are very diverse: there is concern of course, but above all a cold rage, and among some a strong desire to prepare to fight. President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed his compatriots at 2 a.m., he called on them to keep their cool, saying that Ukrainians should not be afraid and would not give up a piece of their land. The Ukrainian President is still calling for peace and action from the international community, but in reality, the Ukrainian armed forces are preparing for the possibility of a Russian attack.
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In the Donbass, the security situation is deteriorating visibly, the bombardments are increasing on the front line, and on Monday, two Ukrainian soldiers were killed and four wounded, while the first civilian lost his life. In reality, the scenario which is feared by many is that the Russian troops who are entering the Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk at this very moment, launch a murderous assault in order to extend the borders of these two republics into the Donbass still under Ukrainian administration. Such a development could lead to fighting of an intensity never seen in Ukraine, and in this context, in the Donbass, already bled by the war, life freezes.
But beyond that, in Kiev, all over the country, people are preparing for a new chapter in their lives: taking shelter and fleeing for some, but also for many putting up resistance, even taking up arms. Vladimir Putin, who hardly ever leaves the Kremlin, said to himself “ confident of Russian support “. Nothing is less sure. Before his speech, the ruble has already fallen sharply, the share of the main Russian bank has lost 25%, and in the country it is the declining purchasing power, the difficulties in everyday life that have been for months at the top of the list of concerns.