Russian sanction renewal reminder: fighting increases in donbass region

2 DPR soldiers have  been killed and 8 taken captive as result of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ shelling near the village of Shirokino in the Donbass region, TASS reported on June 28, citingthe DPR Defense Ministry spokesman, Eduard Basurin. According to the report, 8 DPR fighters were shell shocked by the heavy artillery fire from the Kiev forces and then they were taken captive by Kiev troops.

As a result of the Ukrainian army shelling of the localities of Gorlovka and Kominternovo on June 26 and 27, in Gorlovka three civilians, including two children, were killed and 3 others injured.

According to local sources, up to 15 people have been killed and 30 injured in the Donbass region in eastern Ukraine during the last 2 weeks as the Ukrainian army intensified violations of the ceasefire.

Gorlovka, Kominternovo, Kalinovo, Pervomaysk, Shirokino, Shirokaya Balka, Zhabichevo, Yasinovataya, Spartak, Dokuchaevsk, Staromikhaylovka, Sakhanka, the Petrovsky district and the airport of Donetsk city are the main areas that appear in reports about Ukrainian artillery fire in the  region.

The escalation of the situation in Donbass is synchronized with the expiration date of the sanctions, imposed by the EU against Russia and the growth of eurosceptic views in Europe. This allows to suggest that the ongoing escalation pursues the goal to prevent the normalization of the EU-Russian relations despite the changes of the internal political situation in the union.