Last week, People’s Militia forces and the OSCE Mission repeatedly reported ceasefire violations by the Ukrainian side near the disengagement area in Petrovskoye. Along with provocative small arms firing, the enemy used 60mm mortars in violation of the Minsk Agreements. Deputy Commander of the Operational Command Colonel Eduard Basurin gave a more detailed account of this at the briefing in Donetsk.
“All the attacks were carried out for one purpose, which is to thwart the agreed measures for the dismantlement of fortifications as if it were the fault of the DPR and then to accuse the Republic of sabotaging the peacebuilding process. The fact that the enemy has stepped up the number of provocative attacks is also due to the work of a Ukrainian film crew making a documentary called “Evacuation”. In order to ensure the filming, the commanders of the units have intensified their attacks on the territory of the Republic, provoking return fire from the People’s Militia.
In addition, since November 25, representatives of the Ukrainian National Guard’s Azov separate special operations regiment have been gathering activists of the Azov civil corps near the village of Oleshki, Kharkov. The purpose of this event is to prepare the military personnel for the possible redeployment with weapons and equipment to the joint forces operation zone in order to thwart the disengagement activities. Also, due to the unstable situation in the central region of the country, the leadership of the Ukrainian Internal Affair Ministry’s special forces have recalled officers from their leaves and temporary duties to return to Kiev from the joint forces operation zone,” the colonel reported.