Ukraine Scraps Ceasefire, Launches ‘Full-Scale Offensive’ Against East

Dozens Reported Slain as Ukraine Resumes Civil War

Months of on-again, off-again ceasefires seem to have been ditched in Ukraine today, as the nation’s army announced a “full-scale offensive” against the rebel east, pushing against both Donetsk and Luhansk.

The move was not unexpected, as the fighting over the Donetsk airport has picked up in recent days. Now, both sides claim to hold the airport, which is all-but-destroyed at any rate, and dozens have been reported killed across the region.

After Western protesters ousted the pro-Russian government in Kiev early in 2014, the new government imposed strict restrictions on the ethnic-Russian dominated east, which fueled a rebellion which has kept much of the easternmost oblasts independent to this day.

A ceasefire was negotiated in Minsk which kept the two sides from fighting, but promised reforms from the Ukrainian government to reintegrate the east never came about. Now, it seems they’re once again trying to reintegrate militarily.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.