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U.S. Accuses Kremlin of Joining Ukraine Rebels in Assault Ahead of Cease-Fire U.S. Accuses Kremlin of Joining Ukraine Rebels in Assault Ahead of Cease-Fire
(35 minutes later)
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. ARTEMIVSK, Ukraine — As fighting erupted throughout eastern Ukraine on Friday before a cease-fire at midnight on Saturday, the United States accused Russia of joining separatist rebels in an all-out attack on Ukrainian forces around the contested town of Debaltseve.
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. When the pact was signed with a two-day window before the truce, some last-minute jockeying for position was expected. But the intensity and scope of the violence raised concerns that the agreement signed this week, rife with ill-defined and ambiguous provisions, might prove as ineffective as the first cease-fire pact, signed in September.
Artillery shelling and gunfire reverberated in the area around Debaltseve, a strategic rail hub 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 there.
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.
A Ukrainian military spokesman, Andriy Lysenko, said 11 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed and 40 wounded in fighting after the cease-fire agreement. 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 Saturday turned to Sunday, three children were reported killed by artillery in the rebel-held town of Horlivka. Shells struck a hospital in Donetsk, a rebel spokesman said.
Some of the heaviest fighting broke out along a poorly defended, 31-mile Ukrainian supply route into Debaltseve within hours of the signing of the peace agreement.
Soldiers and medical crews interviewed at a hospital in Artemivsk say the 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.
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 on the steps of a hospital in Artemivsk.
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 take effect as scheduled.
He stood 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.”
In Washington, the State Department spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, called the involvement of Russian troops in the attack on Debaltseve a violation of the spirit of the cease-fire agreement.
“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 said 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 said that the Russian military had moved air defense units near the town, and 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 accused Russia of taking a direct hand in an assault on Ukrainian forces since the cease-fire agreement was signed. The Russians have insisted they are not assisting the separatists, and there were no first-hand reports of Russian troops engaged in battle. But in a proxy war, NATO and Western analysts say, Russian troops have consistently operated in the background, supplying, training and guiding the rebels.
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. President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and President François Hollande of France joined President Petro O. Poroshenko of Ukraine in negotiating the truce agreement reached on Thursday in Minsk, Belarus — the second in the nearly year-old eastern Ukraine war.
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. At the time, 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 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.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 nearby Artemivsk, Ukraine, said that Ukrainian forces had come under heavy assault in Debaltseve on Friday. While the new cease-fire agreement is considered fragile, it was welcomed Thursday as the best hope of resolving the conflict, which has left more than 5,000 people dead. But rather than the hoped-for calm, the cease-fire appeared instead to cause a sharp escalation.
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. Mr. Poroshenko, said the two-day delay in ending hostilities was a concession to the Russian-backed militants and Mr. Putin.
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.
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 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, as the separatist regions tried to nail down a victory in Debaltseve that analysts said that, given enough time, was all but inevitable.
Western officials have become increasingly worried that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia is seeking to ensure that pro-Russian separatists seize Debaltseve before the cease-fire begins, expose the weaknesses of Ukraine’s forces and deal a political blow to President Petro O. Poroshenko of Ukraine.
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. Mr. Poroshenko said it was a concession to the Russian-backed militants and President Putin of Russia.
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.
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.
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.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. As the Russian military and separatist forces have pressed the attack, Western officials have become increasingly worried that Mr. Putin is seeking to seize Debaltseve before the cease-fire begins, expose the weaknesses of Ukraine’s forces and deal a political blow to Mr. Poroshenko.
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. On the last point, Mr. Putin seemed to be succeeding in some quarters. Oleg Lyashko, the leader of the Radical Party, which is part of the majority coalition in Ukraine's Parliament, said that Mr. Poroshenko had made overly steep concessions to Mr. Putin that he described as a ticking ”time bomb” that would give Russia a premise for resuming hostilities in the east.
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. “Let them bite your finger, they will bite your whole hand, and then your head,” Mr. Lyashko told colleagues. “This is a well-known folk wisdom.”
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. In Artemivsk, a woman and a 7-year-old child were killed Friday afternoon when cluster munitions hit a neighborhood, exploding in rapid cadence and leaving behind piles of shattered glass, sagging electrical wires and residents standing about in horrified awe.
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. In the 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.
“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 a day. 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 to the west, 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.