Deaths
shake Ukraine truce, Poroshenko wary of Russia threat
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[February 27, 2015]
By Natalia Zinets
KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine on Friday
reported the first deaths in three days in east Ukraine, denting hopes a
ceasefire will hold, and President Petro Poroshenko said Russia would
pose a "military threat" even if the truce is solid.
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Government troops fighting pro-Russian separatists in the east
began towing artillery away from the front line on Thursday, a sign
that Ukraine's military recognised a ceasefire meant to take effect
on Feb. 15 was at last holding.
But Kiev's military later announced the deaths of three servicemen
in the past 24 hours, following two full days without fatalities
that had raised hopes of the truce holding.
"Even under the most optimistic scenario ... the military threat
from the east would unfortunately remain," Poroshenko said,
referring indirectly to Russia in a televised speech at the National
Defence University.
Kiev and Western governments have accused Russia of sending troops
and weapons to support the separatists in east Ukraine, despite a
peace deal agreed in the Belarussian capital Minsk on Feb. 12, but
Moscow has denied this.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Feb/27/images/ads/current/napa_bch1-3108.png) The situation in the conflict zone was "relatively calm" overnight,
Ukrainian military spokesman Anatoly Stelmakh said, although he
reported isolated attacks by rebels on Ukrainian troop positions.
Ukraine continued to withdraw its weapons on Friday, but the army
will remain on high alert in case of a new offensive from the
separatists, Defence Ministry spokesman Serhiy Galushko said in a
televised briefing.
"Sufficient troops and resources remain along the front line in case
the terrorists and the forces supporting them violate the
ceasefire," he said.
The rebels, who committed to the truce only after seizing a
strategic town in a humiliating defeat for Kiev, have been pulling
back heavy weapons since Tuesday.
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Kiev says it fears the rebels could be regrouping and preparing to
attack Mariupol on the Sea of Azov, as capturing the port city would
help open up a corridor to the Crimea peninsula which Russia annexed
from Ukraine last year following the overthrow of a Moscow-leaning
president in Kiev.
Military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said a convoy of GRAD missile
systems and other equipment had been tracked leaving rebel-held
Donetsk in the direction of Mariupol.
Moscow has in turn raised doubts about Kiev's commitment to the
ceasefire and asked whether the United States and the European
Union, which have imposed economic sanctions on Russia, really want
the Feb. 12 peace deal to succeed.
(Additional reporting by Pavel Polityuk, Writing by Alessandra
Prentice, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
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