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Ceasefire violations in Donbas, early March 2021
Summary
A look back at the reports of ceasefire breaches in eastern Ukraine around 4 March 2021, and the Minsk framework meant to prevent them.
What did the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine look like on 4 March 2021? Days of reported violations suggested a front line that remained active, even though agreements aimed at ending the Donbas War were in place.
On 26 February 2021, Ukraine reported 10 ceasefire violations in the Luhansk region. On 1 March 2021, it reported multiple further violations, with one casualty. Taken together, the reports show a pattern of regular breaches in the days before 4 March 2021.
The framework behind the ceasefire
The Minsk agreements were a series of international agreements that sought to end the Donbas War, fought between armed Russian separatist groups, backed by Russian regular forces, and the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The talks involved the Trilateral Contact Group, made up of representatives of Ukraine, Russia and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). France and Germany mediated through the so-called Normandy Format. The first Minsk Protocol was signed in September 2014.
What the pattern showed
The reported incidents, ten in Luhansk region on one day and a casualty on another, indicated that the arrangements born of the Minsk process had not brought the shooting to a halt. Years after the first protocol, Ukraine was still logging breaches along the line of contact, and a single casualty in the 1 March 2021 report was a reminder that violations carried a human cost.
