On Thursday, separatist authorities in the Luhansk region reported an increase in Ukrainian shelling along the tense line of contact, describing it as a “large-scale provocation.” Separatist official Rodion Miroshnik said that rebel forces have returned the fire. Ukraine disputed the claim, saying that separatists had shelled its forces, but they didn’t fire back. An observer mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe is yet to offer its assessment of the situation.
Bricks and debris mix with toys below a damaged wall after the reported shelling on a kindergarten in the settlement of Stanytsia Luhanska, Ukraine, Feb. 17, 2022.
Valentyna Melnychenko gestures as she speaks to members of the Joint Centre for Control and Coordination on ceasefire of the demarcation line, or JCCC, surveying the damage to her home from an artillery shell that landed in Vrubivka, one of the at least eight that hit the village today, according to local officials, in the Luhansk region, eastern Ukraine, Feb. 17, 2022.
Members of the Joint Centre for Control and Coordination on ceasefire of the demarcation line, or JCCC, survey a crater from an artillery shell that landed near a school in Vrubivka, one of the at least eight that landed in the village today, according to local officials, in the Luhansk region, eastern Ukraine, Feb. 17, 2022.
Members of the Joint Centre for Control and Coordination on cease-fire of the demarcation line, or JCCC, survey a crater and damage to a house from an artillery shell that landed in Vrubivka, one of the at least eight that hit the village today, according to local officials, in the Luhansk region, eastern Ukraine, Feb. 17, 2022.
