Recently, Andrew Rettman of EuObserver provided an overview on the continuing Russian campaign in and against Ukraine.
It is risky to stop near the old grain silo on the road from Mariupol to Marinka, two towns in eastern Ukraine.
Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) snipers had targeted the site from the nearby “fire line” because it housed Ukrainian soldiers, the soldiers told EUobserver on 23 January on a visit to the region.
Further north the same day, near the town of Avdiivka, Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) forces fired 120-mm mortar rounds at Ukraine’s 93rd Mechanised Brigade, Ukrainian authorities said.
An LPR anti-tank grenade had recently hit the engine of a civilian car, hospitalising the driver, they added.
Small arms fire had also injured a civilian in Marinka on 22 January, international monitors from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) confirmed.
Mortars above 100mm are prohibited by the Minsk accords, an international pact.
But if the LPR fires them, then the 93rd brigade brings forward high-calibre ones to fire back.
That is daily life in what people call the “grey zone” – a patchwork of towns, villages, and farms along the contact line – four and a half years after the conflict began….
The war in east Ukraine has already killed 13,000 people and injured 30,000 in total on both sides, the UN said on 21 January.
It has lasted as long as World War One and shows little sign of going away.
For the rest of the story, see the following:
https://euobserver.com/foreign/144084
The featured photo shows the grain silo on the road to Marinka (Photo: euobs.com).