Ukraine has a “war scare” for the second time this year

Between November 14 and 20, the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) reported 75 ceasefire violations on the part of Russian-backed troops in eastern Ukraine. As a result of opposition aggression, 1 Ukrainian soldier was killed and 4 were injured.

According to the JFO, on November 14, occupation troops shelled the Nevelske settlement, destroying and damaging residential buildings and infrastructure. Three days later, these troops fired at the Nevelske settlement again, this time damaging seven houses and destroying two. The next day, Russian-backed forces fired at the Muratov settlement in the Luhansk region, damaging a residential building and household facilities.

This past week saw renewed fears of a large-scale Russian invasion into Ukraine with the buildup of more than 100,000 Russian troops on the border of Ukraine. On November 15, NATO Secretary Jens Stoltenberg warned, “NATO stands with Ukraine. We do not and will not accept Russia’s illegal and illegitimate annexation of Crimea, and we call on Russia to end its support for militants in Donbas.”

Against this backdrop of heightened tensions between the West and Russia, Ukraine received 80 tons of ammunition from the US last week as part of the $60 million in additional security assistance directed to Ukraine in August. A few days later, two former US Coast Guard patrol boats arrived in the Dardanelles strait to “beef up the Ukrainian Navy.” The UK Secretary of State for Defense Ben Wallace arrived in Ukraine on a working visit on November 16. Two days later, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin met with the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov at the Pentagon. Meanwhile, Russia accused the West of intentionally whipping up “hysteria.”