Michael MacKay, Radio Lemberg, 24.02.2018

Russia sent the 74th resupply convoy to its army invading Ukraine on February 22. Russia invaded Ukraine on 20 February 2014, and sent the first truck convoy of weapons, ammunition, and war matériel to occupied eastern Ukraine on 22 August 2014. This was an act of war which was not prevented at the time, and which Putin has now repeated 73 times more. The two army corps of the Russian armed forces which occupy parts of Luhansk and Donetsk regions in eastern Ukraine receive unlimited supplies via these truck convoys and also by rail.

In a blatant violation of the Minsk Agreement of 11 February 2015, Russia maintains exclusive control over 402 kilometres of the Ukraine-Russia border, 12 international border crossings, and two rail lines. Russia stops the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine from its rightful access to the Ukraine border. In violation of Minsk, Russia stops the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (OSCE SMM) from monitoring the border, except for extremely limited access to two border crossings. On Thursday, the Russians threatened OSCE SMM monitors with weapons, and demanded they leave the border crossings when the army resupply trucks were going through. Russia forbad the OSCE SMM from inspecting the trucks.

Russian propaganda calls these trucks resupply the invasion/occupation army “humanitarian convoys.” Although Russian information warriors aggressively push the ‘humanitarian’ narrative on TV and on the Internet, it is a flimsy lie. The Russians never show the “baby formula” and other things supposedly contained in the white-covered trucks. Local witnesses and satellite imagery shows that the trucks go straight to Russian army bases and depots within occupied Donbas.

Shelling by the Russians always picks up after the army resupply missions. The 74th convoy of weapons, ammunition, and war matériel delivered on February 22 is no exception. On the night of February 23, heavy shelling from the Russian side of the battlefront was reported on social media and by the Armed Forces of Ukraine press centre.

Russian armed forces attacked Ukrainian defenders from occupied Debaltseve, striking near the village of Luhanske in the “Svitlodarsk bulge.” Heavy shelling was reported from occupied Pervomaisk, hitting in the Popasna direction. The Bakhmut Road area between Popasna and Luhansk city has been a particular focus of Russia’s attacks, and the shelling on February 23 could be heard from as far away as Lysychansk. The Russians also fired artillery from among the apartments and houses of Ukrainians living under Russian occupation in Donetsk city. The target of these attacks was the village of Pisky in free Ukraine, as well as Ukrainian defences south of Avdiivka. Russia also launched a heavy bombardment from occupied Dokuchaievsk, striking the Ukrainian check-point immediately to the west, as well as the town of Novotroitske.

In most of these horrendous attacks, Russia also turned its guns in the other direction, and fired back upon Ukrainian residential areas in occupied territory. The Russians do this to concoct a ‘provocation’ excuse for their own attacks. Again, this propaganda effort is a flimsy lie, as the Russians uses short-range mortars in these attacks that could only have been fired from Russia-occupied territory, and could not have been fired from free Ukraine.

74 army resupply missions to Russia’s army invading Europe in Ukraine. That’s 74 too many. Leaders of Western democratic countries should be condemning these war convoys, certainly, but to save the West they should be stopping them. Stop Putin’s war convoys … stop the war … save Europe.