OP-ED

Pavel Felgenhauer: Russia escalates its proxy war in eastern Ukraine

By Pavel Felgenhauer.

Published March 12, 2021 at 1:49 am

An Ukrainian serviceman stands in position on the front line with Russia-backed separatists in Donetsk region on February 19, 2021. - Ukraine has been fighting separatists backed by Russia in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions in eastern Ukraine since 2014 following Moscow's annexation of the Crimean peninsula. Since then, more than 13,000 people have died and nearly 1.5 million have been displaced. (Photo by Anatolii STEPANOV / AFP)

Photo by AFP

The ceasefire on the line of control in the breakaway Donbas region of eastern Ukraine is unraveling. In July 2020, both sides—the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) and the Moscow-backed “separatists”—agreed to enforce a “full suspension of hostilities.”