Focus Shifted by Plane, But Ukraine Fighting Rages On

Military Shells Donetsk as Rebels Fight Off Luhansk Raid

With all of the talks of the apparent shoot-down of Malaysia Airline Flight MH17 being a “game-changer,” for the civil war raging in East Ukraine the game remains conspicuously unchanged, as battles continued apace, and the bullets never stopped flying.

Ukraine continues heavy shelling of the rebels’ de facto capital of Donetsk, with reports of more civilian casualties in the chaos, while the rebels managed to fight off a military offensive against Luhansk.

Overnight, Ukraine’s military also claimed to have been fired on twice from positions on the other side of the Russian border, though as usual no evidence was offered to support that allegation.

After last week’s offensive, Ukraine has pushed the rebels back to fewer cities along the border with Russia, though taking additional cities appears to be a difficult proposition, and the war seems no closer to ending.

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.