The spokesman for the Defense Ministry of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), Eduard Basurin, said on Thursday, that the Ukrainian military and pro-Kiev paramilitary forces have amassed some 90,000 men and officers, 450 tanks, 203 artillery units and five Tochka-U missile complexes the sectors of Mariupol, Donetsk, Debaltsevo and Lughansk. Speaking to the press, Basurin stressed that Kiev appears to prepare a large-scale military operation, adding:
"Information has been received about the plan of forthcoming actions by the Ukrainian army from a source in the Ukrainian General Staff and, no matter how strange this may seem, there are still true officers there who do not want to fight against their own people. … Kiev plans to deliver two converging blows in the direction of the settlement of Uspenka to defeat the DPR and advance to the border with Russia and subsequently prevent civilians from reaching the Russian territory … Along with this, two groupings [of Kiev’s forces] are intended to launch an offensive in the Donetsk direction north and south of Donetsk towards Ilovaisk, close the circle around the republic’s capital and encircle the city”.
Basurin added that similar preparations to attack the Lughansk People’s Republic have been observed. These preparations shall, according to Basurin, prevent that militia from the Lughansk People’s Republic can redeploy to assist DPR militia in case of an assault. Basurin also noted that:
"Further on, active offensive operations will be launched in the Luhansk direction with the aim to advance to the border with Russia”.
Mikhail Patrushev. Photo courtesy of Tass, Mikhail Japaridze.
The Secretary of Russia’s Security Council, Nikolay Patrushev, warned authorities in Kiev and those abroad who are backing the government in Kiev against resuming military operations in eastern Ukraine. Patrushev told the press that:
"Both Ukraine and the forces currently governing the country from the outside should realize that the resumption of hostilities leads to further decline in the Ukrainian economy, a greater number of hostilities, destruction of infrastructure and affects negatively the regional and international situation”.
Patrushev stressed that Kiev again appears to attempt a military solution while Kiev fails to observe the Minsk and Minsk II Accords. He particularly noted that the Minsk II Accord calls for the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the line of contact, adding that Kiev continues to use weapons which long should have been withdrawn. The Russian Security Council Secretary added the need for continuing the conflict resolution within the Normandy Group format that has led to the Minsk Accords, adding that there is a need to provide the necessary conditions for a step-by-step implementation of the agreement.
CH/L – nsnbc 21.08.2015
