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Putin's accusation over Donbas ceasefire on 31 March 2021
Summary
A look back at Russian claims about Ukraine and the July 2020 truce, set against a deadly attack days earlier.
What did Moscow say about the Donbas front on 31 March 2021? Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of provoking armed confrontation with pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country. He also said Kyiv had failed to comply with the July 2020 ceasefire.
The claim came five days after a deadly incident. On 26 March 2021, four Ukrainian troops were killed and two wounded when separatists fired a rocket at a military position in Donetsk Oblast. As reported at the time, it was the worst loss of life for Ukrainian forces in a single attack since 2019.
The wider picture
The conflict, which began in 2014, had by then killed over 14,000 people. The July 2020 ceasefire was the truce Putin said Ukraine had not observed.
The two accounts sat side by side: a fatal attack on a Ukrainian position on one side, and a Russian accusation of Ukrainian provocation on the other. The reports from 31 March 2021 show a ceasefire under strain, with each side's public narrative pointing in a different direction.
