Russia rebels accuse Ukrainian Forces of offensive shellings
Pro-Russia rebels in Ukraine have accused government forces of shelling a village on Friday while Russian media reported more infantry and tank units were returning to their bases in contrast to Western fears of an imminent Russian invasion.
For a second consecutive day, pro-Russian separatists who have been at war with Ukraine for years said they had come under mortar and artillery fire from Ukrainian forces, according to the Interfax news agency.
Ukrainian government forces and Russian-backed rebels in the country’s east traded fresh accusations of shelling and other ceasefire violations on Friday, escalating tensions amid fears of a Russian invasion. Kyiv and the rebels blamed each other for the escalation after artillery and mortar attacks Thursday, prompting fears that Russia, which has massed over 100,000 troops near Ukrane’s borders, could get involved. The Kremlin said on Thursday it was “deeply concerned” with the flare-up in Ukraine and was watching the situation closely.
The United States said Russia was looking for a pretext for war.
Kyiv and the pro-Russian separatists have been facing off for eight years, and a ceasefire between them is routinely violated, but the intensity of fighting increased notably this week.
U.S. President Joe Biden Thursday said Russia is preparing a pretext to justify a possible attack on Ukraine, whose ambition to one day join the NATO military alliance has angered Moscow.
In Europe’s biggest security crisis in decades, Russia has massed troops, tanks, and heavy weapons on Ukraine’s borders and demanded assurances that Kyiv never joins NATO, something the Ukrainian government has refused to do.
Even so, Russia says it has no intention to invade Ukraine and accuses the West of hysteria over its military build-up, saying some of its troops have returned to bases.
Interfax news agency cited Russia’s defense ministry as saying on Friday that several Russian mechanized infantry units had returned to their bases in the regions of Dagestan and Chechnya after completing drills in Crimea.
Interfax also cited the ministry as saying that a train loaded with tanks had departed to an …