No drop in tension in eastern Ukraine, on the contrary. According to the OSCE, violations of the ceasefire have experienced a “dramatic increase” in recent hours and this Saturday morning, the pro-Russian separatist leader of the Donetsk region proclaims “general mobilization”.
The leader of the pro-Russian separatist “republic” of Donetsk, at war with Ukraine, proclaimed “general mobilization” on Saturday. “I call on my fellow reservists to report to the military conscription offices. Today I signed the general mobilization decree,” Denis Pouchiline announced in a video statement. Yesterday he launched a process evacuation of civilians to neighboring Russia.
The new announcement comes as OSCE observers report a “dramatic increase” in violence on the frontline between the Ukrainian military and Russian-backed separatists. According to them, the number of armed incidents on the front line is now the same as before July 2020, when an agreement was reached to strengthen the ceasefire.
The OSCE, which keeps an accurate count of all skirmishes between parties to the conflict, “calls on the parties to strictly adhere to all the commitments they have made, to take all necessary measures to reduce tensions and to work to an immediate de-escalation for the property of innocent civilians on both sides of the frontline, who continue to suffer as a result of this conflict,” in a statement.
An international organization to which Russia and the United States belong, the OSCE deployed an observation mission in Ukraine in 2014, after the annexation of Crimea by Moscow and the start of the conflict between Kiev and pro-Russian separatists. in eastern Ukraine. This conflict left more than 14,000 dead.