DONETSK, Ukraine – In an interview with German newspaper Bild, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that Russian forces and their separatist allies break the brokered cease-fire at least 60 times a day.
“Since the ceasefire came into effect, the separatists have breached the truce at least 1,100 times. Therefore, I can say that the ceasefire is broken,” Poroshenko told the Bild at the start of a two-day visit to Berlin where he would meet German chancellor Angela Merkel. He also called for more sanctions on Russia in order to put more pressure on Russia over the war in eastern Ukraine.
Russian fighters and their proxies deny every accusation by the Ukrainian government.
Fighting is still raging in eastern Ukraine, though, reducing any chances for a successful Minsk II peace accord as brokered in the Belarusian capital by France and Germany on Feb. 12. German chancellor Angela Merkel addressed the issue that the Minsk II agreement needs to be fully implemented on the ground, and improving its current fragile status.
As shells keep being fired, both sides accuse one another of breaking the long-awaited brokered truce that came into effect on Feb. 15. In the separatist-controlled provincial capital of Donetsk, many Kremlin-backed fighters point their fingers to Ukraine, calling Ukrainians unanimously “fascists” or “Nazis,” and accusing them of violating a cease-fire and terrorizing the civilians living on separatist-controlled territory.
“We don’t kill civilians,” began Vitaliy, who first introduced himself by his nom de guerre, “Grozny,” the capital of Chechnya. Later he said was from Chechnya. He didn’t give his last name.
Vitaliy stands waiting outside the Sun City restaurant, popular among many Russian separatists and their proxies.
“Let’s keep it simple. If we kill someone, it has two reasons. The first one is that we repel attacks. Another reason is that we need to protect civilians being mistreated by Ukrainian scum,” he vaguely explained while pointing his fingers to his Kalashnikov. “This is a trophy, a weapon that was once owned by a Ukrainian soldier. We had to kill him. It is war, you see. No further questions asked, please.”
More armed men have gathered in front of the popular restaurant spot, though no one was willing to talk to the Kyiv Post anymore. “We just do our job. Now go away,” a separatist fighter demanded, without giving his name, while intimidatingly holding his finger on the trigger of his rifle.
It remains a struggle to ask critical questions to Russians and their separatist allies about the Minsk II agreement.
Many admit reluctantly that they, too, are consciously breaking the cease-fire.
Civilians, though, do speak about the fighting.
Anna Gurbayev, a 34-year-old Donetsk native, works in a supermarket in the center of Donetsk. “At least three times this week I have seen tanks driving in a western direction. One of them even hit a car!” she said.
The western direction means the direction of the front line, suggesting that the Russians and their proxies are not fulfilling the Minsk II agreements, including the heavy weaponry withdrawal. Also, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europea is still experiencing difficulties in gaining access to areas to see the actual withdrawal.
Because of the tense situation – despite a brokered peace agreement – Ukraine’s Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk called for full combat alert.
Meanwhile, fighting continues heavily in the northern outskirts of Donetsk near the airport, as well as near the Ukrainian-held Azov Sea city of Mariupol, according to the latest March 16 report issued by the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.
This cease-fire seemed to actually never have been a ceasefire at all.
Kyiv Post contributor Stefan Huijboom is a Dutch journalist.
