Ukraine Crisis Update: September 9, 2015
Sep 9, 2015 - Hugo Spaulding![](https://understandingwar.org/sites/default/files/styles/square_thumbnail/public/Ukraine%20SITREP%20September%209%20high_2.png?itok=D0IrFbO_)
Russian-backed separatists have dialed back offensive operations in connection with a September 1 ceasefire agreement.
Russian-backed separatists have dialed back offensive operations in connection with a September 1 ceasefire agreement.
Iranian-backed Shi'a militias are challenging PM Abadi's authority through political means and the use of force in the wake of PM Abadi’s recent reforms.
Russian-backed separatists initially abided by a short-term ceasefire beginning September 1, which was designed to reduce the number of civilian casualties during the first week of the Ukrainian school year.
Far-right groups launched a violent riot on August 31 outside Ukraine’s parliament during its review of controversial constitutional amendments that would acknowledge the special status of separatist-held southeastern Ukraine. The riots demonstrate the growing challenge to stability that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko faces from the far-right, a threat that could present new vulnerabilities that the Kremlin may exploit.
Indicators are emerging that security is deteriorating in Basra.
The ISIS mobile defense of SVBIEDs around Ramadi affirms ISF reports of advances around the city.
Russian-backed separatists continued to engage Ukrainian forces with indirect fire along the front line in Donbas, as talks resumed on the implementation of the February “Minsk II” ceasefire agreement.
The government of PM Abadi is using its control over the ISF to protect anti-corruption demonstrators from local authorities south of Baghdad.
The five major Kurdish political parties - the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), the Gorran (Change) Movement, the Kurdistan Islamic Union, and the Kurdistan Islamic Group - failed to resolve the status of the Iraqi Kurdistan presidency before the expiration of President Massoud Barzani’s term on August 20.
Russian-backed separatists launched a rare artillery barrage on the northeastern outskirts of the strategic government-held port city of Mariupol on August 16.