A strategic railroad hub in eastern Ukraine remained the focus of bitter fighting Wednesday, as an agreed-upon ceasefire between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists is all but dead.
The two sides have been battling for weeks for control of Debaltseve, and the truce, which exists on paper, faltered soon after it apparently went into effect Sunday.
Conflicting reports emerged Wednesday about the status of Ukrainian troops in the area, a day after the separatists claimed to control 80% of the town.
Semyon Semyonchenko, the commander of the Ukrainian Volunteer Defense Force, wrote on Facebook that Ukrainian troops are pulling out of Debaltseve. However, it is unclear if this is a partial or full withdrawal from the strategic town.
The official news agency of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, DAN, quoted separatists as saying there had been a large handover of weapons to the separatist forces.
Russian state news agency Tass cited Igor Plotnitsky, leader of the self-declared Luhansk People’s Republic, as saying the separatists may allow the Ukrainian soldiers to leave the area but only if they surrender all arms and equipment.
Earlier Wednesday, the media office for the Ukrainian government’s operation against the separatists denied reports that government forces had pulled out. “The military operation in Debaltseve is under way,” it said in a statement.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which is tasked with monitoring the ceasefire and a supposed withdrawal of heavy weapons by both sides, has not been able to gain access to the town because of the continued conflict.
The chief monitor of the OSCE monitoring mission in Ukraine, Ambassador Ertugrul Apakan, said Tuesday he was “profoundly disturbed by reports of what is going on in Debaltseve.”
OSCE insists on access to flashpoint town
Monitors went to a town near Debaltseve in order to speak with all sides in the conflict but were not able to gain safe access to Debaltseve itself, Apakan said in a statement. They plan to try again on Wednesday.
“I am especially concerned about the civilian population of the town,” said Apakan. “The sides have a duty to them as well, and to each other to adhere strictly to the ceasefire.
“I condemn any attempts to create new facts on the ground, and so to change the basis on which the latest package of measures has been agreed.”
He pointed the finger at the separatist leaders in Donetsk and Luhansk, saying that — citing security fears — they had effectively denied the OSCE monitors access to Debaltseve.
“We insist that they immediately cease the offensive. We insist upon unfettered access to Debaltseve and to the full security zone,” he said.
On Tuesday, Russia and Ukraine reiterated their agreement to let OSCE monitors observe the ceasefire in the town.
Diplomats urge parties to abide by truce
Eduard Basurin, self-declared deputy defense minister of the rebel Donetsk People’s Republic, said Tuesday that the separatists had taken over 80% of Debaltseve.
He also said the separatists had 60 Ukrainian prisoners of war. CNN cannot independently verify those claims.
Meanwhile, diplomats in New York scrambled to shore up the shaky ceasefire agreement, hammered out by the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany on February 12 in Minsk, Belarus.
The U.N. Security Council unanimously voted, 15-0, to approve a resolution calling on all parties to abide by the truce, which is proving to have more pull on paper than on the ground.
Council members issued a statement expressing “grave concern at the continued fighting in and around Debaltseve, Ukraine, which has resulted in numerous civilian casualties.”
Samantha Power, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, accused Russia of undermining the agreement. But her Russian counterpart, Vitaly Churkin, denied the claim, saying Russia had called for a peaceful settlement “since the very start of the crisis.”
Russia has steadfastly denied allegations by Kiev and the West that it is sending heavy weaponry and troops over the border into eastern Ukraine.
In a call with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden “strongly condemned the violation of the ceasefire by separatist forces acting in concert with Russian forces” in and around Debaltseve, according to a White House readout.
Biden also agreed with Poroshenko that if Russia continues to violate the Minsk agreements, “the costs to Russia will rise.”
Village under fire
In the beleaguered village of Shyrokyno, Ukrainian forces struggle to keep control of the territory.
Mortar shelling and small arms battles broke out in Shyrokyno on Wednesday morning. Two Ukrainian soldiers were injured, Dmytro Chalov, a spokesman for Ukraine’s army in the Mariupol sector, told CNN.
“Right now, only about a third of the village is under our control,” a machine gunner named Yury told CNN’s Frederik Pleitgen a day earlier.
Oleg Shiryayev, commander of Ukraine’s East Corpus battalion, said the ceasefire “is a farce.”
“The fighting is continuing now the way it did before,” Shiryayev told Pleitgen. “They continue to attack us, shell us; they use artillery, mortars.”
But it’s impossible to tell which side is responsible for breaking the ceasefire in Shyrokyno.
To some residents, it doesn’t matter.
“The fighting is very heavy. All the windows (of) our house are broken,” one woman said. “It is very terrifying. We saved all our lives to buy our house, and now we have nothing.”