A planned Oct. 9 withdrawal of troops in Stanytsia Luhanska in Luhansk Oblast was postponed because of violations of the cease-fire agreement called for by the often-ignored Minsk II peace deal in effect since February 2015.
The retreat of troops is supposed to take place on both sides – Ukrainian forces and Kremlin-backed separatists – with each side moving one kilometer away from the front line, creating a two-kilometer disarmament zone. This plan was agreed in Belarus capital on Sept. 21 by the trilateral contact group within the framework of Minsk II agreement.
The withdrawal requires a seven-day cease-fire before its implementation.
However, the Russian-backed forces violated the plan in Stanytsia Luhanska, according to the Ministry of Defense. The shelling hasn’t stopped for a seven-day period – in fact, the agreement was violated for eight times while the last attack took place on Oct. 6.
The intelligence service of the Defense Ministry reported that the separatists were preparing for the pullback of troops near the city on Oct. 9. The separatists partly removed their equipment from forward positions near the destroyed bridge in the city.
The head of the Luhansk Oblast administration, Yuriy Harbuz, said that the risk to lost positions of Ukrainian forces in the city is very high. “Because, first of all, the Minsk agreement is violated, we are under shelling,” he said to 112 television channel. “I think that in the near we will realize how to comply Minsk agreement and not lose Stanytsia.”
Stanytsia Luhanska, a small city of 13,000 people in Luhansk Oblast 850 kilometers southeast of Kyiv, might be the first settlement with a demilitarized zone running through the city. Before, only deserted territories were involved in the withdrawal plan. The city plays an important role because of a ruined bridge crossing the Siversky Donets River which was used by soldiers and locals.
Although the Minsk peace agreement hasn’t succeeded in bringing peace, troop pullback had already taken place on two territories since the beginning of October. The forces from both sides of the conflict retreated for one kilometer apart close to Petrivske village in Donetsk Oblast and in an area near Zolote village in Luhansk Oblast. The observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe special monitoring mission observed the process.
In Stanytsia, the locals are afraid that a military-free zone won’t be controlled properly, the head of the city council Yuriy Zolkin said. “People ask how the Ukrainian government will execute its authority on these streets. How would the police officer come on one’s call without having a weapon? How would the rescue service, ambulance work?” he told Hromadske TV.
According to Zolkin, part of state properties will stay in the demilitarized zone, while other buildings will remain under Ukrainian or separatist control.
