Ukrainian forces have deployed missile systems supplied by the West to positions next to the contact line in Donbass, Lugansk People’s Republic People’s Militia spokesman Ivan Filiponenko said.
“According to our information, a large part of the anti-tank missile systems Javelin, TOW and NLAW supplied by the USA and Great Britain have already been delivered to positions in immediate proximity to the contact line,” Filiponenko said.
The Ukrainian command is quickly moving the personnel who have ben trained to use these anti-tank missile systems to the zone of the so-called joint forces operation, the spokesman added.
“Thus, the Ukrainian forces’ preparations for an offensive in Donbass has entered the final phase,” Filiponenko said.
Earlier, LPR militia chief-of-staff Yan Leschenko said that Ukrainian forces were preparing to switch over to hostilities in Donbass while careful hiding the massing of forces and hardware. He also said that the Ukrainian army at this point was not ready to launch an offensive along the whole contact line.
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*r
