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U.S. Accuses Kremlin of Aiding Ukraine Rebels in Assault Ahead of Cease-Fire U.S. Accuses Kremlin of Joining Ukraine Rebels in Assault Ahead of Cease-Fire
(about 1 hour later)
WASHINGTON — The United States accused Russia on Friday of massing artillery and rocket systems around a contested town in eastern Ukraine and using them to attack Ukrainian forces, calling such actions a violation of the spirit of a cease-fire agreement signed just one day earlier. WASHINGTON — The United States accused Russia on Friday of massing artillery and rocket systems around a contested town in eastern Ukraine and joining pro-Russian rebels in attacking Ukrainian forces, calling such actions a violation of the spirit of a cease-fire agreement signed just one day earlier.
The accusation, made by the State Department spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, also asserted that the Russian military had deployed air defense systems near the town, Debaltseve, where thousands of Ukrainian soldiers have been reported to be surrounded by pro-Russian insurgents and where fighting has escalated. The accusation, made by the State Department spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, also said that the Russian military had deployed air defense systems near the town, Debaltseve. Thousands of Ukrainian soldiers in Debaltseve have been reported to be surrounded by pro-Russian insurgents and fighting has escalated there ahead of the scheduled Saturday night start of the cease-fire.
“The Russian military has deployed a large amount of artillery and multiple rocket launcher systems around Debaltseve, where it is shelling Ukrainian positions,” Ms. Psaki said, reading a prepared statement. “We are confident that these are Russian military, not separatist systems.”“The Russian military has deployed a large amount of artillery and multiple rocket launcher systems around Debaltseve, where it is shelling Ukrainian positions,” Ms. Psaki said, reading a prepared statement. “We are confident that these are Russian military, not separatist systems.”
Ms. Psaki also asserted that the United States had reliable reports that Russia was preparing a large shipment of supplies to pro-Russian forces fighting in Ukraine. Ms. Psaki also said that the United States had reliable reports that Russia was preparing a large shipment of supplies to pro-Russian forces fighting in Ukraine.
This was the first time that the Obama administration has alleged a direct Russian hand in an assault on Ukrainian forces in the conflict. This was the first time that the Obama administration has accused Russia of taking a direct hand in an assault on Ukrainian forces since the cease-fire agreement was signed.
The Russians, who have insisted they are not assisting the separatists, helped negotiate the truce agreement reached on Thursday in Minsk, Belarus — the second in the nearly year-old eastern Ukraine war — which calls for a formal halt to hostilities at midnight Saturday.The Russians, who have insisted they are not assisting the separatists, helped negotiate the truce agreement reached on Thursday in Minsk, Belarus — the second in the nearly year-old eastern Ukraine war — which calls for a formal halt to hostilities at midnight Saturday.
American officials said that the attack was a violation of the spirit of that agreement. American officials said that the attack on Debaltseve, a strategically important railroad hub midway between the main rebel-held cities of Luhansk and Donetsk, was a violation of the spirit of that agreement.
On Thursday, American officials warned the Kremlin and the separatists not to try to seize new territory before the cease-fire takes effect.On Thursday, American officials warned the Kremlin and the separatists not to try to seize new territory before the cease-fire takes effect.
“Any effort to grab more land between now and Saturday night will seriously undercut this agreement,” a senior Obama administration official told reporters.“Any effort to grab more land between now and Saturday night will seriously undercut this agreement,” a senior Obama administration official told reporters.
Another senior Obama administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told reporters at the same Thursday briefing that the United States might increase sanctions or send defensive arms to the Ukrainians if the new Minsk agreement was violated by the Russian side. Another senior Obama administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told reporters at the same Thursday briefing that the United States might increase sanctions or send defensive arms to the Ukrainians if the new Minsk agreement was violated by the Russian side.
The American accusations came as reporters in Artemivsk, Ukraine, which is close to the Debaltseve rail hub, said that Ukrainian forces had come under heavy assault there on Friday. The American accusations came as reporters in nearby Artemivsk, Ukraine, said that Ukrainian forces had come under heavy assault in Debaltseve on Friday.
Artillery shelling and gunfire reverberated in the area around Debaltseve, just south Artemivsk, where rebels were said to have severed the last land route into town, leaving government forces surrounded. At least 18 people were reported to have died. Artillery shelling and gunfire reverberated in the area around Debaltseve, where rebels were said to have severed the last land route into town, leaving government forces surrounded. At least 18 people were reported to have died.
In an Artemivsk hospital courtyard, ambulance crews hurriedly wheeled about bloodied, freshly wounded soldiers.In an Artemivsk hospital courtyard, ambulance crews hurriedly wheeled about bloodied, freshly wounded soldiers.
Medical helicopters buzzed in and out through the day. At a school, teachers herded children indoors when the booms of artillery started rattling windows.Medical helicopters buzzed in and out through the day. At a school, teachers herded children indoors when the booms of artillery started rattling windows.
The new cease-fire agreement that was negotiated by the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany left many issues unresolved, and many diplomats consider it fragile.The new cease-fire agreement that was negotiated by the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany left many issues unresolved, and many diplomats consider it fragile.
Still, it is considered the best hope of resolving the conflict, which has left more than 5,000 people dead and raised tensions between Russia and the West to their highest since the Cold War era. Still, it was welcomed Thursday as the best hope of resolving the conflict, which has left more than 5,000 people dead and raised tensions between Russia and the West to their highest point since the Cold War.
But rather than the hoped-for calm, the cease-fire appeared instead to cause a sharp escalation. But rather than the hoped-for calm, the cease-fire appeared instead to cause a sharp escalation, as the separatist regions tried to nail down a victory in Debaltseve that analysts said that, given enough time, was all but inevitable.
The agreement provided for a two-day lag between the signing on Thursday in Minsk and the implementation in eastern Ukraine at midnight on Saturday. Ukraine’s president, Petro O. Poroshenko, said it was a concession to the Russian-backed militants and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.The agreement provided for a two-day lag between the signing on Thursday in Minsk and the implementation in eastern Ukraine at midnight on Saturday. Ukraine’s president, Petro O. Poroshenko, said it was a concession to the Russian-backed militants and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.
A frantic, bloody last-minute land grab ensued, with the government-held town of Debaltseve a focus of the fighting. Debaltseve lies about halfway between Donetsk and Luhansk, the two redoubts of pro-Russian insurgents in eastern Ukraine.
After the overnight talks, Mr. Putin said Mr. Poroshenko refused to acknowledge that the separatist forces had surrounded up to 8,000 Ukrainian soldiers in Debaltseve, but the Russian leader said he hoped that consultations between military commanders would settle that matter.After the overnight talks, Mr. Putin said Mr. Poroshenko refused to acknowledge that the separatist forces had surrounded up to 8,000 Ukrainian soldiers in Debaltseve, but the Russian leader said he hoped that consultations between military commanders would settle that matter.
The agreement requires that Ukraine and the rebels observe a cease-fire starting at midnight on Saturday, then withdraw heavy weapons from the front line within two weeks. Later, Ukraine must restore pensions and public sector wage payments to separatists areas and amend its Constitution to allow for greater local autonomy. If these provisions are fulfilled, Russia is to return control over a section of the eastern Ukrainian border by the end of this year.
“What we have on the table today gives us great hope,” said Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, who helped lead the mediation effort in Minsk.
“There is a real chance to turn things around toward the better,” she said, but added, “we have no illusions.”
On Friday, a Ukrainian military spokesman, Andriy Lysenko, said 11 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed and 40 wounded in fighting after the cease-fire agreement and in the first day of the window before its implementation. Mr. Lysenko said separatists had fired artillery at more than 30 towns and villages in the east.On Friday, a Ukrainian military spokesman, Andriy Lysenko, said 11 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed and 40 wounded in fighting after the cease-fire agreement and in the first day of the window before its implementation. Mr. Lysenko said separatists had fired artillery at more than 30 towns and villages in the east.
In a sign the Ukrainian army, too, was trying to land blows before midnight Saturday, three children were reported wounded by artillery in the rebel-held town of Horlivka. By Friday, the Ukrainian military was reeling from the assault. Rumbling over the snowy steppe, a line of rebel tanks assaulted one Ukrainian stronghold on the road, according to soldiers interviewed in Artemivsk on the steps of the hospital.
Soldiers hunkering down in pillboxes at positions along the road were trying to hold out until Saturday, Sgt. Valeri Dedkivsky said, adding that even then he had little faith the cease-fire would in fact take effect as scheduled.
He stood, he said Friday morning, at the last Ukrainian checkpoint and gazed over a now mined and inaccessible stretch of the supply road, watching smoke swirl up from three burning Ukrainian military trucks. “Our brothers are dying right now,” he said. “This delay was not for us.”
Mr. Poroshenko, speaking after the signing, said Ukraine had tried but failed during the 16 hours of talks to hold out for an immediate cease-fire. “Unfortunately, they demanded that we give them a minimum of 70 hours before the start of the cease-fire,” he said.
In a sign the Ukrainian Army, too, was trying to land blows before midnight Saturday, three children were reported killed by artillery in the rebel-held town of Horlivka. Shells struck a hospital in Donetsk, a rebel spokesman said.
Fighting flared in many towns. Two people were killed and six wounded in an artillery strike in the Ukrainian-controlled town of Shchastya, near rebel-held Luhansk.
In Artemivsk, a child was killed and a woman wounded Friday afternoon when cluster munitions hit a neighborhood, exploding in rapid cadence like a long drumroll from hell, and leaving behind a tableau of shattered glass, sagging electrical wires and residents standing about in horrified awe, as sappers searched for unexploded bomblets by flashlight late into the night.
Some of the most intense fighting broke out along a tenuous, 31-mile Ukrainian supply route into the town of Debaltseve within hours of the signing.Some of the most intense fighting broke out along a tenuous, 31-mile Ukrainian supply route into the town of Debaltseve within hours of the signing.
Soldiers and medical crews interviewed here say rebels now control the road, and as evidence pointed to the ambulances and resupply trucks blown up by mines that now pepper a stretch of the route.Soldiers and medical crews interviewed here say rebels now control the road, and as evidence pointed to the ambulances and resupply trucks blown up by mines that now pepper a stretch of the route.
“I don’t know what happened,” Alla G. Neschadym, a nurse at the Artemivsk Central Regional Hospital, said in an interview about the battle that she said began in the late afternoon Thursday. “But I saw the results. The wounded came in all night long.”“I don’t know what happened,” Alla G. Neschadym, a nurse at the Artemivsk Central Regional Hospital, said in an interview about the battle that she said began in the late afternoon Thursday. “But I saw the results. The wounded came in all night long.”
The casualties flowed in from positions along the road. Soldiers were wounded by shrapnel from mortars and rockets, from gunfire and in explosions when their vehicles hit mines.The casualties flowed in from positions along the road. Soldiers were wounded by shrapnel from mortars and rockets, from gunfire and in explosions when their vehicles hit mines.
In one explosion, one soldier suffered damage to both eyes and “will probably be blind,” Ms. Neschadym said.In one explosion, one soldier suffered damage to both eyes and “will probably be blind,” Ms. Neschadym said.
From Jan. 6 until Feb. 11, she said, the hospital treated 1,004 wounded soldiers, or about 46 per day, while overnight Thursday to Friday after the cease-fire signing, doctors treated 97 wounded soldiers in a frantic, bloody scene. By Friday, most of the wounded had been evacuated further from the front, but a stack of bloody stretchers remained in the hospital hallway.From Jan. 6 until Feb. 11, she said, the hospital treated 1,004 wounded soldiers, or about 46 per day, while overnight Thursday to Friday after the cease-fire signing, doctors treated 97 wounded soldiers in a frantic, bloody scene. By Friday, most of the wounded had been evacuated further from the front, but a stack of bloody stretchers remained in the hospital hallway.
In Moscow, the office of Mr. Putin endorsed the cease-fire, while trying to distance the Kremlin from enforcing it.In Moscow, the office of Mr. Putin endorsed the cease-fire, while trying to distance the Kremlin from enforcing it.
Dmitry S. Peskov, the spokesman for Mr. Putin, said that signing the cease-fire plan made Russia one of its guarantors, but repeated the standard Kremlin position that it could not affect developments on the ground.Dmitry S. Peskov, the spokesman for Mr. Putin, said that signing the cease-fire plan made Russia one of its guarantors, but repeated the standard Kremlin position that it could not affect developments on the ground.
“Russia is not a party which implements this set of measures,” Mr. Peskov was quoted as saying by RIA-Novosti, a state-run news agency. “We simply cannot do this physically, because Russia is not a participant in this conflict.”“Russia is not a party which implements this set of measures,” Mr. Peskov was quoted as saying by RIA-Novosti, a state-run news agency. “We simply cannot do this physically, because Russia is not a participant in this conflict.”
Russia has long sought to portray the war in Ukraine as a purely internal matter, despite repeated sightings of both its soldiers and arms there. It is also clearly influential. Ms. Merkel said the rebel leaders at first had balked at signing the new cease-fire agreement in Minsk on Thursday, but had relented under pressure from Mr. Putin.Russia has long sought to portray the war in Ukraine as a purely internal matter, despite repeated sightings of both its soldiers and arms there. It is also clearly influential. Ms. Merkel said the rebel leaders at first had balked at signing the new cease-fire agreement in Minsk on Thursday, but had relented under pressure from Mr. Putin.