Occupation forces don't intend to implement the Minsk agreements
The occupying forces in the zone of the Anti-Terrorist Operation in Donbas do not intend to implement the Minsk agreements and are set to escalate the confrontation, Defense Ministry speaker Oleksandr Motuzianyk told a Kyiv briefing Saturday, according to an UNIAN correspondent.
"The expansion of the geography of hostilities and the total number of enemy attacks indicate that the enemy is not going to fulfill Minsk agreements and is set to escalate the confrontation," he said.
According to Motuzianyk, over the past day the enemy made 15 attacks in the Luhansk direction, including eight – with the use of heavy weapons. In the Donetsk direction, there were 22 shellings, of which three involved heavy weapons. In the Mariupol direction, the main events were the two clashes with the enemy subversive groups and 23 attacks, three of which – with the use of heavy weapons.
At the same time, as noted by the speaker, the enemy resorts to minor provocations across the front line, even in the normally quiet locations.
As reported, according to the ATO Headquarters, on January 13 the militants fired on Ukrainian positions 62 times, leaving a Ukrainian soldier wounded.
Also yesterday, January 13, Russian-occupation forces once again shelled residential areas, in order to discredit the Ukrainian Armed Forces, this time - in the town of Irmino in Luhansk region.
As stated by Chief of General Staff - Chief of the Armed Forces Viktor Muzhenko, in December 2016 and January 2017, the occupation forces violated the ceasefire 1,730 times. The use of weapons banned under the Minsk deal was recorded 693 times.
Source: UNIAN