bombings that fuel tensions on the border

Near the front line in Popasna (Ukraine), shellfire resounded on Friday, February 18. The soldiers, from the trenches, are used to it and oppose the greatest calm in the face of renewed tension. The pro-Russian separatists are indeed less than 500 meters away. While the face-off has been going on for seven years, the shelling has intensified in the past 24 hours. “There is an increase in the number of ceasefire violations. The enemy fires cannons. We have had more than 80 strikes since yesterday morning.”says a Ukrainian soldier.

It is difficult to know if the Ukrainian army is responding. “We have our artillery in the rear. If we are in great difficulty, of course, they can help us“, recognizes only one soldier. Three kilometers from the front line, the civilians are worried, and their spirits exhausted. The renewed tension was noted in the trenches by Maryse Burgot, special correspondent in Popasna. The journalist specifies that he could “lead to a fatal gear“. In Russia, in the Belgorod region, 15 km from Ukraine, the soldiers did not leave their position in the border area.