On Thursday, the Ukrainian military accused pro-Russian separatists and Russian troops of firing across the ceasefire line in eastern Ukraine, prompting Western nations to warn of a Russian invasion at any moment.
The exact nature of the events could not be verified, and early reports suggested they were on a comparable scale to ceasefire breaches that have become all too frequently throughout the past eight years.
But they arrive as world anxiety over the prospect of a broader war mounts, with more than 100,000 Russian soldiers standing near the Ukrainian border.
Moscow has denied that it is preparing an invasion, claiming instead that it is reducing its numbers. Western nations, on the other hand, say they are not convinced by this.
Four times in the last 24 hours, the authorities were accused of firing on their territory by separatists, according to Ukrainian officials. Ukraine charged the rebels with launching shells including one that hit a kindergarten and caused shell-shock to two people.
In Ukraine’s rebel-held Luhansk region, a Reuters photographer in the town of Kadiivka heard artillery fire from the line of contact but was unable to determine the nature of the incident until later.
Kyiv and its Western allies have warned that they believe Moscow may use violence in the separatist conflict as an excuse for an invasion. Russia, on the other hand, claims that Ukraine is attempting to force a confrontation in order to retake rebel-controlled territory by force.
A high-ranking diplomatic source said a long-standing monitoring operation from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe had documented numerous shelling incidents near the line of contact early on Thursday morning.
Since the negotiated cease-fire took effect in 2015, the OSCE has recorded dozens of breaches each day, with serious shelling or confrontations resulting in injuries or death several times a month.
The Luhansk People’s Republic, one of two rebel territories, claimed Ukrainian troops used mortars, grenade launchers, and a machine gun in four separate incidents on Thursday.
On Tuesday, the lower house of Russia’s parliament voted to ask President Vladimir Putin to recognize the two self-declared separatist republics as independent.
The Kremlin has indicated that Putin does not intend to do so at the moment.
