Pro-Russian separatists attack Ukrainian posts, ignoring cease-fire
Pro-Russian separatists overnight and into Saturday attacked Ukrainian posts and a military base near Donetsk on the border with Russia, Ukrainian government forces said, dismissing Kyiv’s unilateral cease-fire as fake.
The fresh action came just hours after Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko ordered his troops to lay down their weapons late Friday, as part of his plan to end the conflict in the east of the country that has left hundreds of people dead.
Separatist leaders have rejected the cease-fire and said they will not disarm. In Donetsk, a group of armed men gathered in the central square to take a military oath to the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic.
Pavel Gubarev, who describes himself as the governor of the Donetsk People’s Republic, claimed there was no cease-fire near Slovyansk, scene of serious clashes over the past several months.
“There is no cease-fire over there,” Gubarev said. “There is shooting all the time, and this cease-fire that Poroshenko is talking about is just fake. The Ukrainian forces are either not under his control, or he is just a liar.”
A spokesman for Ukraine’s government forces said separatists used mortars and sniper fire to attack Ukrainian posts at Izvaryne and Uspenka on the border overnight, hours after the cease-fire was announced, wounding nine Ukrainian officers.
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry also reported two attacks on the quarters of a missile unit in the village of Avdiyivka, near the main regional town of Donetsk. Kyiv said men armed with automatic rifles and grenade launchers attacked the base at 11 p.m. — one hour after the cease-fire was announced — prompting the army to respond. The rebels left in the morning, the defense ministry said.
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