Russia's security service has arrested several people in Sevastopol as alleged saboteurs working for Ukrainian military intelligence. Kyiv refutes claims the Ukrainian group was planning to attack infrastructure targets.
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"We have detained members of a sabotage-terrorist group from the main intelligence directorate of the Ukrainian defense ministry," Russia's FSB security service said in a statement. "The group," it said, "planned to carry out acts of sabotage on objects of military and public infrastructure," and had in its possession "powerful explosive devices, weapons, ammunition" and communication equipment.
In August, Moscow said a group of 20 infiltrators had been found loading explosives and weapons from a hideout near the town of Armyansk in northern Crimea, on the Ukrainian border. An FSB officer and one infiltrator were reportedly killed in a shootout. Moscow said that 20 home-made explosive devices equivalent to more than 40kg of TNT, as well as ammunition, shells, and other weapons used by the Ukrainian Army Special Forces were confiscated at the scene.
Ukraine: Crimean Tatars under pressure
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Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the time that Ukrainian authorities had "resorted to practicing terrorism instead of seeking a peaceful solution to the crisis," adding that German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande had been notified of what he called "gross provocation" orchestrated by Kyiv.
Kyiv rejects accusations
Kyiv has dismissed the latest accusations as "fantasies" made up by Moscow to bolster its military buildup.
"This information about the alleged detention of Ukrainian saboteurs is absolutely fake,” spokesman for the Ukrainian operation against rebels in the east, Andrey Lysenko, said. "Nobody detained any Ukrainian troops in Crimea.”
Kyiv is fighting a pro-Russian insurgency in Ukraine's eastern regions of Lugansk and Donetsk, with about 10,000 people killed since the conflict started in April 2014.
Ukraine: Living on the front lines
Under nightly mortar fire, thousands of elderly and impoverished civilians continue living on and between the front lines in East Ukraine’s ‘gray zone.’ Diego Cupolo reports from Donetsk.
Image: DW/D. Cupolo
Caught in the crossfire
Every evening, the shelling begins around sunset. The front lines near Donetsk see nightly mortar and machine gun fire as the conflict between the Ukrainian military and pro-Russian separatists’ rages on. Caught in the crossfire are many elderly civilians who are too impoverished to go elsewhere. Ivan Polansky, above, surveys the damage on his home in Zhovanka.
Image: DW/D. Cupolo
‘Waiting for a shell’
Residents of Zhovanka in the so-called ‘gray zone,’ a thin strip of land separating warring militaries, line up to see a visiting doctor. Medics hold pop-up clinics in the town once a week. "Each day, you are waiting for the shell to land on your house and you never know when it’s going to come," said local resident Ludmila Studerikove.
Image: DW/D. Cupolo
Without electricity and heating
Zhovanka was once home to 1,000 people, but the number has dwindled to about 200 since the war began in mid-2014. It has been three months since residents have had electricity and gas. "Sometimes I’m so scared that I lay in bed at night and just shake,” Studerikove said. “My husband stays by my side and holds my hand."
Image: DW/D. Cupolo
Nowhere else to go
Olexander Voroshkov, program coordinator for the regional charity SOS Kramatorsk, said residents continue to live in half-destroyed homes with leaky roofs, even through the winters, because rent in nearby Ukrainian cities has skyrocketed since the beginning of the conflict. "Rents in Kramatorsk are now similar to those in Kiev, but the salaries are much lower than in Kiev," Voroshkov said.
Image: DW/D. Cupolo
Reliance on humanitarian aid
Women line up to receive medicine and multivitamins in Zhovanka. Food and humanitarian supplies are delivered to the town by charity organizations, as crossing checkpoints sometimes requires people to wait more than a day in line. "We had everything; we had fresh air, nature. It was very nice here. Now we just have the cold," said local resident Vera Sharovarova.
Image: DW/D. Cupolo
Adapting to DNR frontlines
Vera Anoshyna, left, speaks with neighbors in Spartak, a town in what is now the Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR). Anoshyna said she has done her best to adapt to the conflict. "If you don’t have water, you find it," she said. "If you don’t have electricity, you find a solution. But you never know where the next bomb will land."
Image: DW/D. Cupolo
Six broken ribs
Svetlana Zavadenko stands before her home in Spartak. She was injured when the walls collapsed after several mortars exploded in her yard. Neighbors had to dig Zavadenko out of the rubble and she was sent to the hospital with six broken ribs and a ruptured liver. She smokes “Minsk” brand cigarettes and laughs when asked what she thinks about the war.
Image: DW/D. Cupolo
'We lost hope'
Zavadenko recovered from her injuries and lives alone with several pets. Spartak has not had electricity, gas, or water services since 2014, so she uses a grill to cook her food. For firewood, she goes to an abandoned furniture factory nearby and collects plywood. "Last winter we thought [the war] would finish, but now, honestly, we lost hope," she said.
Image: DW/D. Cupolo
Possibility of a drawdown
Damage from shelling on the outskirts of Donetsk. Despite past failures in deescalating the war, a new ceasefire may be in sight after an October peace summit in Berlin, where Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he was ready to end hostilities in eastern Ukraine and would withdraw troops from the region.
Image: DW/D. Cupolo
'We lost too many soldiers to stop now'
Even if both sides agree on a ceasefire, they will face opposition from their militaries, who claim their sacrifices were too heavy to simply put down their weapons. "We lost too many soldiers to stop now," said Vladimir Parkhamovich, colonel of the 81st Airmobile Brigade in the Ukrainian military. "If they give us an order [to stop] we’ll consider them traitors."