Donbass heats up again before Ukraine election

Ukraine's UNIAN news on January 13 reported that a series of attacks were carried out by military forces in the separatist republics in Donbass against the areas of the Joint Forces Command (JFO).

Ukrainian strongholds outside Kriakivka (34 km northwest of Luhansk) and Novomykhailivka (28 km southwest of Donetsk) came under grenade fire and heavy machine gun fire.

These forces also used grenade launchers of various systems with heavy machine guns and small arms aimed at the direction of the Ukrainian army in the areas of Vodiane (16km northwest of Donetsk), Lebedynske (16km northeast of Mariupol) and Hnutove (19km northwest of Mariupol), the JFO Headquarters press center reported. Two Ukrainian servicemen were injured in these shellings.

A day earlier, Ukraine’s UNIAN news agency also reported clashes in the country’s eastern border area. The news site said that separatist militias in Donbass violated the ceasefire on January 12. One member of the separatist forces was killed and another serviceman was injured.

By the morning of January 13, grenade launchers and large-caliber machine guns were used near the village of Khutir Vilny, and grenade launchers and small arms were used near the town of Avdiyivka in the Donetsk region. The Ukrainian armed forces returned fire and no casualties were reported on the part of the Ukrainian military.

Minor conflicts in eastern Ukraine were reported to have paused before the start of 2019 and have only begun to intensify in recent days.

Sputnik news site previously regularly reported ceasefire violations and small-scale attacks in the border area. However, since the beginning of January 2019, the frequency of these reports has decreased.

The news of the clashes comes as Ukraine has ended its martial law and is entering the presidential election period. The election in Ukraine is scheduled to take place on March 31 this year.