After the Donetsk People’s Republic had initiated an extraordinary Contact Group meeting on November 8 via videoconference to set a new date for the parties’ disengagement, the enemy stepped up attempts to disrupt the disengagement of forces and assets in the Petrovskoye area. Official spokesperson for the DPR People’s Militia Directorate Rinat Aigistov provided details on November 7.
“Yesterday, the Ukrainian party made an attempt to carry out an armed provocation in the stated area. The command of the 128th separate mountain assault brigade tasked a mortar squad with shelling the area of Petrovskoye locality with a view to provoke return fire and consequently accuse us of disrupting peacemaking initiatives.
Camera crews of the Inter and Deutsche Welle television companies, along with the France-Press and Reuters news agencies, had been invited to the AFU-controlled territory to record return fire. However, the planned provocation fell through as their own 120mm Hammer mortar exploded. Two Ukrainian military were killed and three others were injured in the incident,” the official representative of the DPR People’s Militia Directorate said.