What did 6 April 2018 signal on Russia?

What did the days around 6 April 2018 reveal about the security picture in Ukraine and its neighbourhood? Three separate reports, dated 4, 5 and 6 April, point to pressure on Russia from abroad, a change in how Kyiv framed its war in the east, and a criminal case in the capital.

Washington widens sanctions

On 6 April 2018 the United States imposed sanctions on twelve Russian-owned companies, a Russian arms exporter and a bank. The measures were taken under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act. Washington cited several reasons, including Russian meddling in the 2016 elections and military engagements in Ukraine, Crimea and Syria.

The act is a US federal law that imposed sanctions on Iran, North Korea and Russia by preventing US companies from doing business with sanctioned entities. The Senate passed it on 27 July 2017 by 98 votes to 2, after the House approved it 419 to 3. President Donald Trump signed it on 2 August 2017, although he believed the legislation was seriously flawed.

Kyiv reframes the Donbas operation

On 5 April 2018, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko held a press conference in Vinnytsia. He announced that the anti-terror operation in Donbas would end in May and be replaced with a military force.

The operation had been declared by the Ukrainian government as the war in Donbas began, following the 2014 pro-Russian unrest and the arrival of armed militias. The term "ATO zone" came to be used by media, the Ukrainian government, the OSCE and other foreign institutions for the parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions under the control of Russian military forces and pro-Russian separatists. The 2015 Minsk II protocols referred to the area as certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Replacing the operation with a military force was therefore a change in the formal label and structure of Ukraine's response in the east.

An arrest in the capital

On 4 April 2018, Ukrainian authorities announced the arrest of a suspected terrorist in connection with a 2017 attack in Kyiv. The attack killed two people and wounded three, among them MP Ihor Mosiychuk.

Reading the three together

The reports concern different arenas: American sanctions policy, Ukrainian military organisation and domestic law enforcement. What they share is the security backdrop of the conflict with Russia. The US listed Ukraine and Crimea among its reasons for the sanctions, while Kyiv set a May timetable for replacing the operation in Donbas with a military force. Beyond those stated steps, the reports give no further detail on how either would be carried out.