Russia-backed rebels blame Ukraine for shelling

The rebels who are backed by Russia and the Ukrainians traded accusations Thursday of firing across a ceasefire line in eastern Ukraine, raising alarm at a time of Western warnings about a Russian invasion any moment.

There has been no independent confirmation of the details of the incidents, and they are similar in nature to the ceasefire violations that have been common during the eight year conflict.

With more than 100,000 Russian troops near the Ukrainian frontier, these developments come at a time of global concern about a wider war. Moscow has denied plans to invade and said this week that it would withdraw some troops, but Western countries are not convinced.

Ukraine claims that rebels fired shells at a kindergarten, causing shell-shock in two civilians. Separatists claim that government forces opened fire four times in the past 24 hours.

In the early hours of Thursday, multiple shelling incidents were recorded along the line of contact by a longtime monitoring mission from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

17 Feb 2022