Pro-Russian Separatists Backed By Russian Troops Keep On The Offensive In Eastern Ukraine

Defying NATO, Ignoring Ceasefire, Russian-Backed Troops Keep Rolling -- Daily Beast

Pro-Russian separatists backed by Russian troops are closing in on Mariupol, the strategic city that stands between them and a land route to Crimea.

MARIUPOL, Ukraine — Volunteer battalions outside Mariupol retreated Thursday after shelling and mortar fire hit positions just outside the city. As evening fell, the staccato thunder of Grad missiles could be heard close enough so the noise rumbled through the center of town.

All this ratcheted up fears that a much-anticipated Russian-backed assault on this strategic industrial port is now underway – and indeed it might be. But the sleight-of-hand war being waged here in eastern Ukraine, and exploited so effectively by Russian President Vladimir Putin, can sometimes make it hard to distinguish feints from offensives.

Mariupol has been on edge since pro-Russian troops seized the border town of Novoazovsk near the Russian border last week, prompting international denunciations of a Russian “invasion,” said Kiev, or “incursion,” said Washington. Much of the NATO summit in Wales on Thursday was consumed with talk about how best to deter Russia from further aggressions by imposing new sanctions.

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My Comment: My Ukrainian sources are telling me that absent a ceasefire .... the city of Mariupol could fall over the weekend. There are not many Ukrainian soldiers deployed to protect the city .... and they do not have the firepower that pro-Russian rebels and Russian soldiers have.