LAST: Over the past 24 hours, OSCE observers have reported hundreds of ceasefire violations in the Donetsk region and Luhansk. There have been 591 violations of the ceasefire in the last 24 hours in Donetsk, and 975 violations in Luhansk.
Most of Donetsk and Luhansk are controlled by pro-Russian separatists.
“We do not know if any decision has been made about an attack,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said at the security conference in Munich on Saturday, adding that the threat from Russia to Ukraine is real anyway.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj also warns against panic and seeks to tone down the United States’ gloomy predictions, which Biden made the day before.
– We do not think we need to panic, Zelenskyj said in his speech to the security conference.
USA: – Being attacked
US President Joe Biden said on Friday that he was convinced that Russian President Vladimir Putin had decided to attack Ukraine. It created fears that war could break out in Europe at any time.
Baerbock appealed to Putin to withdraw his forces.
“Withdraw the forces, avoid damage to Russia and Ukraine, and let’s talk,” she said.
But at the same time, she failed to sign US warnings of an impending invasion.
– SHAPE: A soldier walks past a building in the Lughansk region that is said to have been shelled on Saturday. Photo: Vadim Ghirda / AP / NTB
–
– The most inappropriate thing to do in crisis situations is to guess or assume, she said when the journalists wanted her reaction to Biden’s assessment.
– My encouragement to everyone is that we look closely at the facts on the ground, she said and warned against targeted misinformation.
– One of two possibilities
Lieutenant Colonel and head teacher of strategic communication at the Norwegian Defense College, Geir Hågen Karlsen, says he thinks Russia has a plan for what to do.
– EXPERT: Lieutenant Colonel Geir Hågen Karlsen. Photo: Simen Askjer / TV 2
–
– There are two possible outcomes here now. Either they have already decided to attack, and will do so at some point. Or they will drag this game as far towards the edge as possible, so that they get all the alarm bells ringing, as a brutally aggressive negotiation technique to get a solution at the last minute, says Karlsen to TV 2.
He thinks the situation now is very, very serious.
On Saturday, a military exercise for Russian forces in the Barents Sea also started.
– Can this be seen in connection with what is happening?
– This is an exercise with the strategic nuclear forces, and this exercise usually takes place in the autumn. It is no coincidence that this is happening now – it is a demonstration of power, he says.
Huitfeldt: – Realistic with attack
Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt (Labor Party) says that it is realistic that Russia can attack Ukraine.
Nevertheless, she believes a diplomatic solution is still possible.
“Europe’s security is threatened, and everyone I talk to here is concerned that Russia must take responsibility and meet for dialogue,” Huitfeldt told NTB on Saturday.
– Is it starting to get too late with diplomacy?
– I and everyone else will do everything we can to avoid it, but now the ball is in Russia’s court. We hope to get them back to the negotiating table, she says.
Huitfeldt is attending the MSC security conference in Munich this weekend with several of the world’s heads of state and government. The mood there is characterized by the seriousness of the increasingly tense situation between Ukraine and Russia, says Huitfeldt.
Evacuating
Ukrainians evaluated from the rebel-held regions of the Donbas to Russia hope to return to their villages soon.
Elena Sokela was one of those who found out that it was time to get her son to safety when the order for evacuation came while loud explosions and plane alarms began to become more common.
– EVACUATION: Here, locals are on their way to the train station in Debatlseve in Ukraine, an area controlled by Russian separatists, to be evacuated to Russia. Photo: Alexei Alexandrov / AP / NTB
–
– We did not want to wait until it was too late. Better to get out now, said the 40-year-old Sokela at the border crossing between Donetsk and Russia, the day after the order for evacuation was given.
There was a steady stream of women and children with wheelbarrows crossing the border on a cold and clear winter morning between fences topped with Russian flags.
Sokela brings with her the 16-year-old son who will live with his grandmother in Russia. But she herself wants to go home again, preferably within a week.
In recent days, there have been a number of reports of shootings and minor attacks on the eastern border of Ukraine.
(©NTB / TV 2)
–
