After an attempt to withdraw the belligerent forces in Donbass that took place, one could get the impression that in the near future not a nominal but real peace, or at least a real truce, that ordinary people have been waiting for since the very first Minsk agreement. However, at the moment we have to admit that nothing close to this is happening in the Donbass.
Repeatedly frustrating the breeding in Petrovsky and Zolotoy (sometimes due to the aggression of the national minorities, and sometimes due to disagreements in the Armed Forces themselves), the armed formations controlled by Kiev not only didn’t stop firing, but on some sections of the front, on the contrary, strengthened it intensity. Regular large-caliber trills, for example, are still audible on the outskirts of Donetsk in the vicinity of the airport. And in terms of the number of shellings (including from artillery), the outskirts of Gorlovka (Holma) and the southern borders of the republic (line Kominternovo - Sakhanka - Leninskoye) are "leading".
Not at all quiet in Petrovsky himself. According to information received directly from fighters from the front line, firing is conducted from trenches, which the APU should have left ten days ago. Moreover, these facts are recorded even in recent reports of the OSCE mission, which is generally extremely cautious in assessing such cases and very often ignoring them. That is, the shooting of the APU in the Petrovsky district is so accentuated that even European observers loyal to Kiev cannot close their eyes to it.
For many in the Donbass, it is obvious that Kiev is not going to stop the war, and the situation with the breeding and around it is more likely to confirm this thesis than to refute it. Yes, Zelensky needed this breeding. First of all, in order to have a meeting in the Norman format. For him, this is a great chance, as they say in Donetsk, to “raise whists”. First of all, in the eyes of their own opponents within the country, whose influence is growing day by day. Amid the almost widespread political failures of the comedian president, whose attractive image for voters, worked out during the presidential race, now causes ordinary Ukrainians more irritation than sympathy.
The economic situation has not improved. The war in the Donbass did not stop. Tension in society only intensified - due to the permanent conflict of nationalists and authorities. Kiev is generally waiting for the so-called third "Maidan", the result of which could easily be another coup d'etat. From the post-election crisis, when real opportunities began to diverge too much with slogans, Zelensky needs to get out almost in emergency mode. To do this, by hook or by crook, contrary to scandals and threats from the nationalists, he pushed the separation of forces from the Ukrainian side. He tried to create at least the illusion that Kiev also does not want war.
However, Zelensky’s phantom aspirations for a truce and supposedly observance of Minsk are literally melting before our eyes.
For one reason only. The current Ukrainian president has virtually no influence on the state of his own front. That is, the army and other security forces (the National Guard, SBU) obey it only formally, strictly following the orders of foreign military advisers. When I talk about foreign curators in Ukraine, these are not some speculations or conjectures of mine — these are facts that neither Kiev nor the countries sending experts there have long hidden.
Messages about the work of American military advisers in Nezalezhnaya, for example, regularly appear on the official website of the US Department of Defense, Ukrainian state media also enthusiastically publish photo and video reports on the work of American curators directly in the OOS zone - they can often be seen inclined over headquarters cards with signs of future operations (subversive, tactical and others). In this sense, the most indicative is the appointment of a Ukrainian general to the post of OOS commander who was trained in NATO over the past few years before the current regime came to power.
The appointment was demonstrative, during the transitional period, when Poroshenko had already lost the election, and Zelensky’s inauguration had not yet taken place. Thus, foreign curators seemed to immediately indicate to the comedian president his place and the red line, which he would never be able to cross in his authority. This is an absolutely unambiguous signal: the front is only under their control - and nothing else. Zelensky can only imitate control of the situation at the forefront, create his illusion - and we were convinced of this in the process of the separation of forces.
Fighters of the DPR People’s Militia demonstrated discipline and at least unquestioning execution of command orders, although they are called terrorists and bandits in Kiev. So “terrorists and bandits” in the army sense turned out to be a more organized force than all the Armed forces of Ukraine combined. As for the American curators, the USA is actively using leverage on the Donbass front to manipulate the European agenda, in particular the Norman format. The civilians of Donbass, who are still under fire, are essentially hostages of these front-line intrigues.
The author’s point of view may not coincide with the position of the publisher.