Antti Kuronen, a foreign journalist in eastern Ukraine, says that there have been a lot of events in recent days that the locals think are like staging for a possible attack.
In eastern Ukraine, people on the government front are worried about a possible escalation of the war, says ‘s foreign journalist in the region Antti Kuronen.
Kuronen arrived today in the small town of Popasna, managed by the Ukrainian government, in the Luhansk region. According to Kuronen, there were firing sounds in the afternoon around Popasna.
The front line is a couple of miles outside the city. According to Kuronen, this is one of the areas where Russian-led forces have fired in recent days. According to him, firing and fighting usually take place in the dark in the evenings and at night.
Worry weighs on people
Kuronen says that the people he met in Eastern Ukraine have been really worried about the possible escalation of the fighting and that the situation would change to the same level as in 2014. At that time there were fierce fighting in Eastern Ukraine and a lot of people died.
According to Kuronen, people are also concerned about the events of recent days in Russian-controlled areas, also known as separatist areas.
– Today it became known that a so-called mobilization or mobilization has begun there, so that men of military age are not allowed to leave the area. Yesterday, they started an evacuation in the sense of propaganda, so that children and women are taken there and told to go to Russia, Kuronen says.
In addition, according to Kuronen, a gas pipeline that is thought to have been blown up by them exploded last night in the Russian-controlled Luhansk region.
– There are a lot of events here that are thought to be like staging for a possible attack.
According to Kuronen, local people seem to have a strong confidence in the Ukrainian army. Many think a possible attack would be risky for Russia.
– On the other hand, Russia’s military intimidation is taken very seriously. People clearly think that Putin and Russia are really ready for anything.
Fireworks increased in recent days
In recent months, Russia has deployed a large number of troops and military equipment close to Ukraine’s borders. There are now more than 100,000 Russian soldiers around Ukraine.
At the same time, the front of Eastern Ukraine has remained reasonably calm, Kuronen describes. However, he said a turnaround took place the night between Wednesday and Thursday as Russian-led forces stepped up their fire.
Kuronen says that on Thursday morning, the kindergarten, among others, hit the front side of the Ukrainian government.
– It was pretty weird that it happened at nine in the morning. Usually no civilian targets are shot during the day.
Kuronen estimates that it seems really unlikely that Ukraine will now somehow provoke Russia in such a situation.