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Serhiy Takhmazov

TRAVNEVE, Ukraine (Reuters ) – On Monday, government troops in the east of Ukraine said that heavy weapon fire from Russian-backed separatists was intensifying to cause all-out conflict. This is amid Russia’s fears for a covert invasion.

Since 2014, Ukrainian forces have been fighting Russian-backed troops in Donetsk/Luhansk areas bordering Russia. This conflict has claimed 15,000 lives according to the leadership of Ukraine. Despite a ceasefire agreement in 2015 stopping the most serious fighting, shelling continues along the “line-of-contact” as Russia’s forces converge on Ukraine’s borders.

Western countries have accused Russia of plotting to invent a pretext for an offensive against Ukraine. They blame Kyiv for the attacks, and they rely on separatist proxy pleas for assistance.

“In the last few days it has become very hot (dangerous) here,” a Ukrainian soldier, who identified himself by Chamomile, his nom de guerre, said while giving Reuters a tour through fortified trenches in the government-controlled Trasneve sector.

They fire at us with heavy mortars (120- and 150-calibre), along the front. “It has become much more deadly here,” he stated.

They are likely trying to get us fired up so they can provoke us. They might, I guess here, want to prod us into full-blown war,” said he. A sign was posted behind his head that read: “Warning Sniper.”

Russia claims that it has no plans to attack Ukraine. However, Russia threatened military-technical action against Ukraine unless Russia receives broad security guarantees.

A second Ukrainian soldier, who used the name Hurricane as his pseudonym de guerre, said that separatist forces seemed determined to reaffirm their threat with heavy weapons.

“… They are constantly ready to cause trouble, and then blame us …” We can’t expect much from them after their eight-year war experience. It’s possible for anything to happen. The worst is possible, but we are prepared for it and still hope for the good.

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