The purpose of this short report is to sum up what happened in May and June in Donbass region and to outline the most relevant issues that civilians have to face.
Fighting between Ukrainian Army and DPR-LPR forces aside, people are struggling with:
1- Lack of water, electricity, gas and fuel;
2- Presence of mines and/or unexploded ordnance (UXOs);
3- Economic problems;
4- Health Care-related issues;
5- Issues related to civilians’ freedom of movement.
In one simple move, Ukrainian Parliament (the Verkhovna Rada, or Supreme Council) shredded five military agreements that Kiev and Moscow signed 20 years ago, on November 25 1990 in Sochi. Those agreements were key elements on Ukraine – Russia relations and focused on and regulated:
“Renewed fighting in Ukraine, heavy weapons deployed”, this is what many newspapers are reporting. This is not entirely true because fighting never completely stopped and heavy weapons never went completely silent.
It is true, though, that concerns are rising again due to the fact that fighting are now reported in locations that have been relatively calm. In many occasions Triage pointed out that fighting have been occurring mainly in and around Donetsk and its airport (north/north-west of the city centre) as well as in and around Shyrokyne. In the last 24/48 hours, the confrontation between Ukrainian Armed Forces and the Donetsk People Republic (DPR) heavily involved the government-controlled town of Marinka (about 20km west/south-west of Donetsk city centre). Not only did the SMM (Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine) report heavy fighting, but also reported the fact that massive forces have been gathering in the area (including T-72 and T-64 tanks, 100 and 122mm artillery pieces, and Grad multiple rocket launchers). Efforts to cool the situation down consisted with the proclamation of a local ceasefire.
Russia's army is massing troops and pieces of weaponry in the proximity of the Ukrainian border, at Kuzminsky fire range (50 km from the border) through the town of Matveev Kurgan (25 km from the border). Reuters spread the piece of news along with some photos in which it is possible to observe military convoys on their way or tanks loaded on trains.
