Ukrainian forces actively preparing for hostilities - LPR militia

Ukrainian troops are actively preparing for switching over to hostilities, Lugansk People’s Republic People’s Militia chief-of-staff Yan Leschenko said at a press briefing at the Lugansk Media Centre. 

“The LPR Defence Ministry has been recording Ukrainian army activities not only in the zone of the punitive operation in Donbass, but also across the whole Ukraine,” Leschenko said. “It noted the deployment of special operations teams to Donbass and an increase in Ukrainian army radio networks traffic.”

“Today’s situation increasingly looks like a pre-war situation. All the cited data show that the Ukrainian army is preparing for active hostilities,” he said.

“The LPR militia reconnaissance is constantly monitoring active movement of hardware in the zone of the so-called Joint Force Operation, which proves the fact of the Ukrainian army’s preparations for aggression against the People’s Republics,” Leschenko added. 

The Ukrainian government launched the so-called anti-terrorist operation against Donbass in April 2014.  Conflict settlement relies on the Package of Measures for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements, signed on February 12, 2015 in the Belarussian capital by the Contact Group members and coordinated by the Normandy Four heads of states (Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine).  The document provides for ceasefire and withdrawal of heavy weapons from the contact line. *i*s