LPR militia fighting for liberation of Popasnaya, Rubezhnoye - Pasechnik

Lugansk People’s Republic militia are fighting for the liberation of Popasnaya and Rubezhnoye from Kiev forces, LPR Head Leonid Pasechnik told Russia 24 television channel.

“Fighting is ongoing for the liberation of the Popasnaya and Rubezhnoye settlements,” Pasechnik said.

Earlier, LPR People’s Militia spokesman Ivan Filiponenko said that militiamen had taken the larger part of Rubezhnoye under control and were eliminating scattered units of Ukrainian gunmen in the outskirts of the town. The LPR flag was hoisted over the Rubezhnoye administration building on March 17.

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation in Donbass to protect residents of the region from Ukrainian aggression and called on Ukrainian troops to leave the combat zone. Earlier, the Heads of the Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics, Leonid Pasechnik and Denis Pushilin, requested the Russian president to provide military assistance. LPR militiamen had liberated 54 Kiev-held settlements of the Republic by the morning of March 6.

The Ukrainian government launched the so-called anti-terrorist operation against Donbass in April 2014.  The members of the Contact Group have announced ceasefire more than 20 times since the autumn of 2014. Kiev forces regularly violated the truce opening fire with large caliber artillery, mortars and tank guns which were to have been withdrawn from the contact line under the accords. *i*s