U.S. Mission to the OSCE
Statement delivered on January 31 by Chargé d’Affaires ad interim Kate M. Byrnes in Vienna to the Permanent Council of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The statement was released by the U.S. Mission to the OSCE.
As our Ukrainian colleague has explained, the situation is dire in Avdiyivka, where a combined Russian-separatist assault has resulted in large numbers of casualties and a humanitarian emergency that affects 17,000 people. We call on combined Russian-separatist forces to recommit to the ceasefire to allow for repairs to critical infrastructure.
On January 26, the Russian Federation warned the Permanent Council that the risk of military escalation in eastern Ukraine was great. Two days later, on January 28, fighting escalated significantly. Combined Russian-separatist forces launched an assault against Ukrainian positions in and around Avdiyivka. Fighting there became so intense that the Special Monitoring Mission called the number of ceasefire violations “uncountable,” with explosions surpassing 2,300 during a 24-hour period.
Although Ukrainian armed forces repulsed the Russian-separatist offensive, fighting claimed the lives of eight Ukrainian soldiers and wounded 26. In response to this latest aggressive action, Ukraine established a new, more defensible position on the Ukrainian side of the contact line south of Avdiyivka. Ultimately, only the disengagement of forces and withdrawal of heavy weapons on both sides of the contact line – as called for by the Minsk agreements – will allow for a sustainable ceasefire, which remains critically urgent for the people of Ukraine.
Damage from the fighting has left 17,000 people in Avdiyivka without water, electricity or heat. We understand 2,500 of these individuals are children. Ukraine has taken responsibility for the welfare of its people by making preparations to provide emergency heating for the residents of Avdiyivka, and to evacuate residents if necessary. Ukraine has called for an immediate period of silence to allow repairs to critical infrastructure. It is also attempting to convene an emergency meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group and has urged the Special Monitoring Mission to step up patrols in the area.
Nonetheless, combined Russian-separatist forces have insisted they will continue to fight until Ukrainian forces retreat. Russia and the separatists initiated the violence in Avdiyivka. We call on Russia to stop the violence, honor the ceasefire, withdraw heavy weapons, and end attempts to seize new territory beyond the line of contact.
Temperatures have dropped far below freezing in Ukraine. Without water, electricity, or heat, the lives of thousands of people are at stake. Combined Russian-separatist forces must halt their attack on Avdiyivka. They must stop the violence and allow repairs to critical infrastructure. Most of all, Russia and the separatists must demonstrate their willingness to fully abide by the ceasefire, a primary component of the Minsk agreements that they have so often broken.
U.S. Department of State
Statement to the press by Mark C. Toner, acting spokesperson of the U.S. Department of State, delivered in Washington on January 31.
The United States is deeply concerned with the recent spike in violence in eastern Ukraine around Avdiyivka-Yasynuvata. Since January 28, the OSCE’s Special Monitoring Mission has reported a dramatic increase in fighting, including with heavy artillery and other weapons proscribed by the Minsk agreements. The fighting has caused dozens of Ukrainian military casualties and 10 civilian casualties. It has also left 17,000 civilians, including 2,500 children, without water, heat or electricity. To avert a larger humanitarian crisis, we call for an immediate, sustained ceasefire and full and unfettered access for OSCE monitors. We also reaffirm U.S. support for full implementation of the Minsk agreements.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine on the deteriorating situation in the Donbas. The January 31 statement was disseminated by the Embassy of Ukraine in the United States.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry expresses deep concern over the intensification of the Russian-terrorist forces in Donbas.
For the last two days, the Russian occupation forces carried out massive attacks across the contact line using all available weapons, including MLRS Grad, artillery of 152 mm and 122 mm, mortars of 120 mm and 82 mm, tanks, all prohibited by the Minsk agreements, and small arms. The Russian weapon has killed 8 Ukrainian soldiers and has left 26 wounded.
Civilians suffer because of the shelling of the residential areas: 2 civilians have been wounded. The cities of Yasynuvata and Avdiyivka were fully cut off from electricity by shelling. More than 400,000 peaceful civilians in the region have no access to water, electricity and heating. Given harsh weather conditions and the continuing shelling by the militants, the humanitarian situation in the area continues to deteriorate.
Such actions of the Kremlin may qualify as a war crime, a gross violation of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, an unlawful, wanton and extensive destruction of property not justified by military necessity.
Obviously, the current escalation in Donbas is a clear indication of Russia’s continued blatant disregard of its commitments under the Minsk agreements with a view of preventing the stabilization of the situation and achieving any progress in the security and humanitarian spheres.
We demand from the Russian Federation to cease hostilities immediately and to comply strictly with the ceasefire.
We request our international partners to step up political and diplomatic pressure on the Kremlin to stop dangerous escalation in Donbas and avoid a humanitarian catastrophe in the region.
Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze
Statement regarding the Avdiyivka situation by Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine. The statement was disseminated on January 31 by the Kyiv-based Ukraine Crisis Media Center.
The situation in the east of Ukraine has dramatically worsened in recent days. Weaponry forbidden by Minsk II is being widely used by Russia in Ukrainian Avdiyivka and across the whole line of contact… Seven Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and dozens have been wounded during the last two days. A refusal by the aggressor and its puppets to cease their fire in order to allow infrastructural repair may leave 400,000 people in the region without water, electricity and heat at a temperature of -20 C.
We are working on ensuring provision of basic needs for the people. At the same time, Ukraine is making sure that our international partners are fully aware of the situation, get objective information and reporting about the developments on the ground. The world should know the truth about the crimes of the Kremlin – only then it will realize the depth of the abyss into which we are all being pushed by Russia. The Ukrainian fight against Russian invaders is a fight of freedom against tyranny, a fight of the future against the past.