In one simple move, Ukrainian Parliament (the Verkhovna Rada, or Supreme Council) shredded five military agreements that Kiev and Moscow signed 20 years ago, on November 25 1990 in Sochi. Those agreements were key elements on Ukraine – Russia relations and focused on and regulated:

“Renewed fighting in Ukraine, heavy weapons deployed”, this is what many newspapers are reporting. This is not entirely true because fighting never completely stopped and heavy weapons never went completely silent. 

It is true, though, that concerns are rising again due to the fact that fighting are now reported in locations that have been relatively calm. In many occasions Triage pointed out that fighting have been occurring mainly in and around Donetsk and its airport (north/north-west of the city centre) as well as in and around Shyrokyne. In the last 24/48 hours, the confrontation between Ukrainian Armed Forces and the Donetsk People Republic (DPR) heavily involved the government-controlled town of Marinka (about 20km west/south-west of Donetsk city centre). Not only did the SMM (Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine) report heavy fighting, but also reported the fact that massive forces have been gathering in the area (including T-72 and T-64 tanks, 100 and 122mm artillery pieces, and Grad multiple rocket launchers). Efforts to cool the situation down consisted with the proclamation of a local ceasefire.

Russia's army is massing troops and pieces of weaponry in the proximity of the Ukrainian border, at Kuzminsky fire range (50 km from the border) through the town of Matveev Kurgan (25 km from the border). Reuters spread the piece of news along with some photos in which it is possible to observe military convoys on their way or tanks loaded on trains.

This is one of those pieces of news that quickly travels around the world. On Saturday 16, two men were captured by Ukrainian Armed Forces at the contact line near Shchastya (30km from the Russian border). OSCE’s inspectors spoke privately with the two men at a military hospital in Kiev where they had been brought because wounded.  On SMM reports it is said that “both individuals claimed that they were members of a unit of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation”[1].

According to the two men, they were “on a reconnaissance mission”, they “were armed but had no orders to attack” and “Both of them said they had been to Ukraine on missions before”. One of them repeatedly stated that “there were no Russian troops involved in fighting in Ukraine”.

Eleven weeks have passed since the beginning of the truce in eastern Ukraine. Triage’s updates’ purpose is to provide a report on the implementation status of the first three point of Minsk II agreement:

1.      Immediate and full ceasefire and its strict fulfilment as of 00.00 (Kiev time) on February 15.

2.    Pull-out of all heavy weapons by both sides to equal distance to create a security zone on minimum 50 kilometres apart for artillery of 100mm calibre or more, of 70km for MLRS and 140 kilometres for MLRS Tornado-S, Uragan, Smerch and tactical missile systems Tochka U.

3.      Monitoring and verification of ceasefire regime and pull-out of heavy weapons by OSCE.

Ten weeks have passed since the beginning of the truce in eastern Ukraine. Triage’s updates’ purpose is to provide a report on the implementation status of the first three point of Minsk II agreement:

1.      Immediate and full ceasefire and its strict fulfilment as of 00.00 (Kiev time) on February 15.

2.      Pull-out of all heavy weapons by both sides to equal distance to create a security zone on minimum 50 kilometres apart for artillery of 100mm calibre or more, of 70km for MLRS and 140 kilometres for MLRS Tornado-S, Uragan, Smerch and tactical missile systems Tochka U.

3.      Monitoring and verification of ceasefire regime and pull-out of heavy weapons by OSCE.

Eight weeks have passed since the beginning of the truce in eastern Ukraine. Triage’s updates’ purpose is to provide a report on the implementation status of the first three point of Minsk II agreement:

1.      Immediate and full ceasefire and its strict fulfilment as of 00.00 (Kiev time) on February 15.

2.      Pull-out of all heavy weapons by both sides to equal distance to create a security zone on minimum 50 kilometres apart for artillery of 100mm calibre or more, of 70km for MLRS and 140 kilometres for MLRS Tornado-S, Uragan, Smerch and tactical missile systems Tochka U.

3.      Monitoring and verification of ceasefire regime and pull-out of heavy weapons by OSCE.

Seven weeks have passed since the beginning of the truce in eastern Ukraine. Triage’s updates’ purpose is to provide a report on the implementation status of the first three point of Minsk II agreement:

1.      Immediate and full ceasefire and its strict fulfilment as of 00.00 (Kiev time) on February 15.

2.      Pull-out of all heavy weapons by both sides to equal distance to create a security zone on minimum 50 kilometres apart for artillery of 100mm calibre or more, of 70km for MLRS and 140 kilometres for MLRS Tornado-S, Uragan, Smerch and tactical missile systems Tochka U..

3.      Monitoring and verification of ceasefire regime and pull-out of heavy weapons by OSCE.

Six weeks have passed since the beginning of the truce in eastern Ukraine. Triage’s updates’ purpose is to provide a report on the implementation status of the first three point of Minsk II agreement:

1.      Immediate and full ceasefire and its strict fulfilment as of 00.00 (Kiev time) on February 15.

2.      Pull-out of all heavy weapons by both sides to equal distance to create a security zone on minimum 50 kilometres apart for artillery of 100mm calibre or more, of 70km for MLRS and 140 kilometres for MLRS Tornado-S, Uragan, Smerch and tactical missile systems Tochka U.

3.      Monitoring and verification of ceasefire regime and pull-out of heavy weapons by OSCE.

Five weeks have passed since the beginning of the truce in eastern Ukraine. Triage’s updates’ purpose is to provide a report on the implementation status of the first three point of Minsk II agreement:

1.      Immediate and full ceasefire and its strict fulfilment as of 00.00 (Kiev time) on February 15.

2.      Pull-out of all heavy weapons by both sides to equal distance to create a security zone on minimum 50 kilometres apart for artillery of 100mm calibre or more, of 70km for MLRS and 140 kilometres for MLRS Tornado-S, Uragan, Smerch and tactical missile systems Tochka U.

3.      Monitoring and verification of ceasefire regime and pull-out of heavy weapons by OSCE.