Pavel Polityuk, Dmitry Antonov

MOSCOW/KYIV – Russian-backed rebels and Ukrainian troops traded accusations Thursday that they had fired shells over the ceasefire line in Eastern Ukraine. Kyiv claimed the incident looked like a provocation at a moment when Russia is en masse on the border.

Moscow denied Western claims that it planned to invade neighboring countries and announced this week that it would be pulling some of its more than 100,000 soldiers from the region. While the West claims that there is a significant withdraw, it says thousands of troops from the United States are still coming to the area.

Russia is being accused by the West of plotting to provoke or to stage an insurrection in the rebel-held regions, and to justify an attack. Moscow accuses Kyiv, however, of plotting an escalation that would allow it to retake territory using force.

According to a senior source in the Ukrainian government, the level of shelling on the contact line with Russian-backed separatists forces was greater than the ceasefire violations that were routinely reported during the conflict.

It is unusual. According to Reuters, it looks a lot like a provocative.”

Dmitry Peskov (Kremlin spokesperson) said that Russia was concerned about reports of an escalation.

The incident occurred in Kadiivka (in Ukraine’s rebel-held Luhansk). A Reuters photographer heard some gunfire from the area of the contact but could not determine its details.

Separatists claimed that government forces opened fire on their territory four more times within the last 24 hours.

Kyiv claimed that the rebels fired shells at multiple locations including a kindergarten, and another that hit a school that required pupils to run to the cellar.

A senior American official, Joe Biden, stated that up to 7,700 more troops have been moving to the border since Wednesday, contrary to Russia’s claims.

SATELLITE IMAGGES

Russia’s defense ministry published video that showed additional units leaving. Maxar Technologies (NYSE):, a U.S. private company, stated that satellite images have shown that Russia had pulled back certain military equipment that was near Ukraine. But, more hardware is now arriving.

Sources close to the diplomatic community said that a monitoring team from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) had observed multiple incidents of shelling along the line-of-contact in the early hours Thursday morning.

After the 2015 ceasefire ended major combat in the separatist war, the OSCE reported many ceasefire violations every day. Often, these were minor instances of firing weapons. It is possible to report on several incidents of heavy shelling, clashes or deaths that cause injury or death every month.

According to the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic (one of two rebel areas), Ukrainian forces used mortars and grenade launchers in four incidents that occurred on Thursday.

In a statement, the separatists claimed that the Ukrainian army had violated the ceasefire regime using heavy weapons. This, in accordance with the Minsk Agreements, must be removed.

The Ukrainian military stated that the Russian occupation troops had shelled Stanytsa Lugansk, in the Luhansk area, with a particular level of cynicism. Terrorists had used heavy artillery weapons to hit the kindergarten. Initial data indicates that two civilians suffered from shell shock.

Russia claims it is not planning to invade Ukraine. However, Russia says that it may take an unspecified military-technical action, if a variety of conditions are met. This includes a commitment never to accept Kyiv into NATO.

Although the West rejects most Russian demands, they have offered talks to address other issues such as arms control. Europe and the United States have warned Russia that sanctions would be imposed if it invades. Moscow, however has mostly ignored these threats.

This story has been corrected to delete the extraneous “in” from its headline