/ / Tension increases on Ukraine’s border due to the presence of Russian troops

Tension increases on Ukraine’s border due to the presence of Russian troops

April 01, 2021

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This Thursday the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, accused Moscow of recruiting Russian troops on the eastern border of the country, especially in the Crimea region, annexed by Russia in 2014. The Russian military presence has increased tension in the area and powers like the United States and the European Union warned Russia not to “intimidate” Ukraine. Neither party acknowledges the Russian annexation of the Crimean Peninsula.

The solution to the conflict that started in 2014 in eastern Ukraine appears to be still a long way off. This Thursday, the tension between Ukraine and Russia became latent again with the denunciation of President Volodymyr Zelensky, who accused Moscow of increasing its military presence on the border and creating an “atmosphere of threat” in the east of the country, in especially in the disputed region of Crimea.

Several social media posts show how Russia is increasing its military presence in the Ukrainian areas of Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimea. The latter was annexed by Russia in 2014, from which time the Ukrainian Executive has had to deal with the presence of separatist groups. A conflict that led to the only war Europe has seen in this century.

For this reason, the escalation of tension in the area worries the Western powers and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), especially the United States, an ally of the Ukrainian government. From across the ocean, Washington warned Moscow that they should not intervene in the “sovereignty” of the country or intimidate it.


“We continue to support the Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine in the face of Russia’s ongoing aggression in Donbass and Crimea,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said via social media.

For its part, the European Union was also alarmed at the situation. He assured that the presence of the Russian Armed Forces is “a violation of international humanitarian law” and demanded that they leave the area.

“Today, Russia has launched a new recruitment drive in the illegally annexed Autonomous Republic of Crimea to select residents of the peninsula for the Russian Armed Forces. This is another violation of international humanitarian law,” a Service spokesman said in a statement. European External Action (EEAS).

Neither the United States nor the European Union recognize Russia’s “illegal” annexation of Crimea.

An unfinished conflict

The last serious incident in the conflict zone occurred on the 26th, when four Ukrainian soldiers died during a demining mission near the town of Shumy, in the Donetsk region. Despite the truce agreed last year, since January 2021 there are already 19 Ukrainian soldiers who have died at the border.

The two countries blame each other for the situation. Russia singles out Ukraine for having launched a war against the Russian-speaking population, the majority in the area known as Donbass, while Kiev maintains that Moscow is militarily occupying that territory, in which two “people’s republics” have proclaimed themselves. Donetsk and Lugansk – which call for the independence of Ukraine and are supposedly backed by the Kremlin.

However, both powers consider that the escalation of violence is a “dead end”. This was said by President Zelensky, who asked to resort to “diplomacy” to solve the problem and make a “ceasefire.” Since, although one was agreed in July last year, it has been repeatedly breached. Since 2018, eight agreed truces have been broken.


For his part, Kremlin spokesman Dimitri Peskov acknowledged the recent increase in violence on Tuesday, saying that Russia “sincerely hoped” that it would not escalate, as the fighting could “wipe out the modest gains made.”

The Kremlin justify the deployment of troops as a strategy to guarantee security on the border. However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday that any false move by Ukrainian troops in the Donbass region would lead to a “heated conflict” as a warning.

According to the United Nations, the conflict between the Ukrainian Executive and border separatists has claimed more than 14,000 lives since 2014. Ukraine, Western countries and NATO point to Russia for sending troops and weapons to the Donbass separatists. For its part, Moscow assures that it only provides political and humanitarian aid to the combatants, in what it considers an internal conflict.

With AFP, Reuters and local media

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source https://pledgetimes.com/tension-increases-on-ukraines-border-due-to-the-presence-of-russian-troops/

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