Separatists order evacuations to Russia amid worst shelling in eastern Ukraine in years
Kyiv and Lviv, UkraineCNN —
Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine’s breakaway regions ordered the evacuation of civilians to Russia Friday, accusing Ukraine of planning a large military offensive against the two self-declared republics.
The restive eastern part of the country has witnessed the worst shelling in years over the last two days. Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said Friday that shelling of Ukrainian territory from areas controlled by separatists had risen dramatically in the past day.
Each side accuses the other of heavy shelling of civilian areas. Ukrainian authorities say there were 60 breaches of the ceasefire Thursday, many of them by heavy weapons.
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The Ukrainian government denies that it is planning any offensive in the east, accusing the separatists of launching a “disinformation campaign.”
Authorities in the breakaway states of Donetsk and Luhansk said they were organizing the evacuations. Leonid Pasechnik, the most senior official in the pro-Russian breakaway Luhansk People’s Republic, urged men to take up arms.
“The Russian Federation is ready to provide organized reception and accommodation on its territory of residents of the Luhansk People’s Republic,” said Pasechnik. “Once again, I appeal to all men who are able to hold weapons in their hands, to defend their land.”
Both the Ukrainian government and western officials have warned of the possibility of provocative actions by Russia and the separatist leadership to provide a pretext for a Russian offensive into Ukraine.
“We are in the most dangerous phase,” a Western official told reporters Friday. “They could move at any time. Russia could act within days. Everything we are seeing makes us more concerned about that.”
The official said there are 110 Russian battalion tactical groups – a fighting formation that normally comprises about 1,000 troops – around Ukraine. Russia also has “air power ready to go,” the official added.
US President Joe Biden accused Russia of being “engaged in a false flag operation” on Thursday, shortly after the renewal of shelling between Ukrainian authorities and separatists in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas. Biden has said Russia could invade Ukraine “in the next several days.”
Both the Ukrainian government and western officials have warned of the possibility of provocative actions by Russia and the separatist leadership to provide a pretext for a Russian offensive into Ukraine.
The Donbas region has seen fighting between Ukrainian forces and separatist fighters since 2014. The Ukrainian government in Kyiv asserts the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic are in effect Russian-occupied. The self-declared republics are not recognized by any government, including Russia. The Ukrainian government refuses to talk directly with either separatist republic.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has distributed around 600,000 Russian passports to inhabitants of breakaway regions in recent years, a move that observers have argued could set the stage for a Russian intervention in Ukraine.
More than 14,000 people have died in the conflict in Donbas since 2014. Ukraine says 1.5 million people have been forced to flee their homes, with most staying in the areas of Donbas that remain under Ukrainian control and about 200,000 resettling in the wider Kyiv region.
A Russian invasion of Ukraine would be “catastrophic,” UN Secretary General António Guterres said Friday during his opening remarks at the Munich Security Conference in Germany, calling for diplomatic efforts to continue.
“I am deeply concerned about heightened tensions and increased speculation about a military conflict in Europe. I still think it will not happen but, if it did, it would be catastrophic,” Guterres said.
US Vice President Kamala Harris from the Munich conference warned that “aggressive action” by Russia would be met with “severe consequences” of economic sanctions.
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Children play on old Soviet tanks in front of the Motherland Monument in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Wednesday, February 16.
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A kindergarten that officials say was damaged by shelling is seen in Stanytsia Luhanska, Ukraine, on Thursday, February 17. No lives were lost, but it was a stark reminder of the stakes for people living near the front lines that separate Ukrainian government forces from Russian-backed separatists.
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Ambassadors of European countries lay roses at the Wall of Remembrance in Kyiv on February 16. The wall contains the names and photographs of military members who have died since the conflict with Russian-backed separatists began in 2014.
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US troops walk on the tarmac at the Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport in southeastern Poland on February 16. US paratroopers landed in Poland as part of a deployment of several thousand sent to bolster NATO’s eastern flank in response to tensions with Russia.
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A 200-meter-long Ukrainian flag is unfolded at the Olympic Stadium in Kyiv on February 16 to mark a “Day of Unity,” an impromptu celebration declared by President Volodymyr Zelensky.
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Travelers wait in line to check in to their departing flights Tuesday, February 15, at the Boryspil International Airport outside Kyiv. US President Joe Biden has urged Americans in Ukraine to leave the country, warning that “things could go crazy quickly” in the region.
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A Ukrainian serviceman carries an anti-tank weapon during an exercise in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine on February 15.
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A location of Oschadbank, a state-owned bank, is seen in Kyiv on February 15. The websites of Oschadbank and PrivatBank, the country’s two largest banks, were hit by cyberattacks that day, as were the websites of Ukraine’s defense ministry and army, according to Ukrainian government agencies.
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A woman and child walk underneath a military monument in Senkivka, Ukraine, on Monday, February 14. It’s on the outskirts of the Three Sisters border crossing between Ukraine, Russia and Belarus.
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F/A-18E and 18F Super Hornets are seen on the flight deck of the USS Harry S. Truman, an American aircraft carrier in the Adriatic Sea on February 14. The Truman was on its way to the Middle East in mid-December, but the Pentagon decided to keep it in Europe as tensions began to escalate.
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Ukrainian service members talk at a front-line position in eastern Ukraine on February 14.
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Members of Ukraine’s National Guard look out a window as they ride a bus through the capital of Kyiv on February 14.
Satellite images taken on Sunday, February 13, by Maxar Technologies reveal that dozens of helicopters have appeared at a previously vacant airbase in Russian-occupied Crimea.
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The Russian navy’s diesel-electric Kilo-class submarine, Rostov-on-Don, moves through Turkey’s Bosphorus Strait en route to the Black Sea on February 13.
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US soldiers and military vehicles are seen at a military airport in Mielec, Poland, on Saturday, February 12. The White House approved a plan for the nearly 2,000 US troops in Poland to help Americans who may try to evacuate Ukraine if Russia invades, according to two US officials familiar with the matter.
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An anti-war demonstration takes place in Kyiv’s Independence Square on February 12.
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Pro-Russian separatists observe the movement of Ukrainian troops from trenches in Ukraine’s Donbas area on Friday, February 11.
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Ukrainian service members unpack Javelin anti-tank missiles that were delivered to Kyiv on Thursday, February 10, as part of a US military support package for Ukraine.
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Ukrainian service members walk on an armored fighting vehicle during a training exercise in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region on February 10.
The latest US intelligence assessment indicates that Russia is continuing with preparations to invade Ukraine, according to a senior US official with direct knowledge and another source directly familiar with the intelligence.
The assessment – described as “bleak” by the senior official – indicates Russia could attack in the coming days.
However, US officials caution they do not know if Putin has made a final decision to invade and note he may delay action or not order it at all. Earlier assessments forecasting military action by Russia this week did not bear out.
