19.10.2019, Donetsk.
The Ukrainian military are planting anti-tank mines near the city of Petrovskoye, along the road between the towns of Viktorovka and Bogdanovka, and near the town of Zolotoye, representatives of the People’s Militia of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) told journalists on October 18, RIA Novosti reports.
The representatives of the People’s Militia also issued a warning about a provocation the Ukrainian nationalists troops are preparing, “Near Bogdanovka [currently under Kiev’s control ― Rossa Primavera News Agency], the members of the Ukrianian groups are specifically watching the activities of the OSCE SMM in the separation area, using drones.”
Petrovskoye is located in the area of separation of forces in the Lugansk region, and it is governed by the Krasny Luch municipality. In 2016, an agreement was signed, under which the separation of forces took place the same year near the towns of Zolotoye and Petrovskoye, while in the Luganskaya settlement the separation of forces took place in June 2019. However, representatives of the DPR and the LPR have repeatedly said that the Ukrainian military advance into the separation areas near Petrovskoye and Zolotoye, and they insisted that parity must be restored.
The withdrawal of the troops and equipment should have started on October 9. The DPR and the LPR confirmed their readiness to start the process, but no response followed from the Ukrainian military.
On October 1, at a meeting of the contact group in Minsk, the sides came to another agreement to resume the separation of forces near Petrovskoye and Zolotoye. According to Radio Donbass. Realii, the separation of forces also implied the demilitarization of the areas of Shirokino, Peski, Granitnoye, and other towns and villages controlled by the Ukrainian army.
The Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vadim Pristayko said on the sidelines of the YES 14 summit that Zelensky would initiate the separation of forces in Donbass along the entire contact line. “President Zelensky proposes the idea to everyone to separate [the forces] along the entire line. All 400 kilometers.” Thus, the “buffer” or “grey” zone will pass along all the front line, narrower in some places and wider in others, up to several kilometers at both sides.
However, the Deputy Commander of the Joint Forces Operation, Major General Bogdan Bondar, denied this information. According to the military, no large-scale separation will take place, at least until spring. What happens next is subject to negotiations.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
