Setting The Record Straight On Ukraine. What You Need To Know by Mike Whitney
On February 16, 2022, a full week before Putin sent combat troops into Ukraine, the Ukrainian Army began the heavy bombardment of the area (in east Ukraine) occupied by mainly ethnic Russians.
Officials from the Observer Mission of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) were located in the vicinity at the time and kept a record of the shelling as it took place. What the OSCE discovered was that the bombardment dramatically intensified as the week went on until it reached a peak on February 19, when a total of 2,026 artillery strikes were recorded. Keep in mind, the Ukrainian Army was, in fact, shelling civilian areas along the Line of Contact that were occupied by other Ukrainians.
We want to emphasize that the officials from the OSCE were operating in their professional capacity gathering first-hand evidence of shelling in the area. What their data shows is that Ukrainian Forces were bombing and killing their own people. This has all been documented and has not been challenged.
So, the question we must all ask ourselves is this: Is the bombardment and slaughter of one’s own people an ‘act of war’?
You left out a few details. The OSCE reported increased shelling by BOTH SIDES. Those more 2,000 plus artillery strikes included violations by the Russian-backed “separatists.” The OSCE also never attributed the acceleration of the ceasefire violations as being started by the Ukrainian government side. The OSCE reports also don’t make any claims that the Ukrainians were deliberately targeting civilian sites rather than military targets. Finally, the OSCE has reported that the “separatists” on many occasions stationed heavy equipment, in violation of Minsk II, next to civilian hospitals, schools, and apartments.
I have actually read the OSCE reports, have you? They are easy to find:
https://www.osce.org/special-monitoring-mission-to-ukraine-closed