Published: 08:11 PM, 19 February 2022
Ukraine soldier killed in clashes near Russia border
Ukraine's army on Saturday reported the
first death of a soldier in weeks and accused Moscow-backed rebels of sharply
escalating attacks that have redoubled fears of an imminent Russian invasion.
The joint military command for east Ukraine said a soldier received a
fatal shrapnel wound in the conflict zone running across two separatist
regions near the Russian border.
Ukraine's emergency service said two of its staff were wounded during a
wave of attacks on Friday.
The armed forces said rebels had used 82 and 120 millimetre-calibre mortar
shells -- banned under previous ceasefire deals -- in towns across the front
running through the eastern regions of Lugansk and Donetsk.
Separatist fighters are "firing artillery rounds on population centres and
placing their artillery systems near residential homes," the Ukrainian army
said.
"This way, our enemy is trying to force our armed forces to return fire
and then blame them for shelling civilians," it said.
The military added that it was continuing to "rebuff and contain the armed
aggression" without attacking civilians, and accused Russia of directing its
allies' attacks.
Moscow formally denies being involved in the conflict and calls it a
Ukrainian internal affair.
But monitors from the OSCE European security body have reported regular
shipments of Russian weapons across the border throughout the eight-year war.
The OSCE reported a massive 870 ceasefire violations across the conflict
zone in its latest report Friday, which referred to incidents the previous
days.
"In recent days, the OSCE Special Monitoring to Ukraine (SMM) has observed
a dramatic increase in kinetic activity along the contact line in eastern
Ukraine," the OSCE said in a statement.
Rebel leaders accuse the Ukrainian armed forces of trying to retake their
two separatist regions by force -- a claim Kyiv denies.
The rebel leaderships in Donetsk and the smaller Lugansk region on
Saturday both called the situation "critical" and announced a "general
mobilisation".
