11.02.2021, Kiev.
The ceasefire in Donbass is not observed, and therefore the Ukrainian military must open fire in response to every shelling, the head of the Ukrainian delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) Leonid Kravchuk said on February 9 in the Gordon newspaper’s interview.
“There is simply no ceasefire anymore. We cannot go on pretending that it exists. We need to tell the truth, call white white and black black,” Kravchuk said.
The head of the Ukrainian delegation blamed the Russian armed forces, which, according to him, are present in Donbass. The former president’s indignation is caused by the fact that Russia refuses to recognize itself as a party in the civil war in Ukraine.
“The Russians seem to participate in the work of the TCG, but they are playing a double game. They are not ashamed of anything and demonstrate that they stand above the fray, allegedly helping Ukraine to solve the internal conflict,” Kravchuk specified.
“The Russians seem to participate in the work of the TCG, but they are playing a double game. They are not ashamed of anything and demonstrate that they stand above the fray, allegedly helping Ukraine to solve the internal conflict,” Kravchuk specified.
The head of the delegation also accused servicemen of the People’s Militia of the Donbass republics of violating the truce and called to open destruction fire in every case of shelling.
“We all together, including the global community must act adequately. Leniency, softness, calls for compromise will bring nothing. We must be consistent and tough,” said Leonid Kravchuk.
Since the beginning of the year, the Ukrainian military intensified artillery shelling of the territory of the Lugansk (LPR) and Donetsk People’s Republics (DPR). the weapons prohibited by the Minsk agreements was used to open fire on residential houses of the LPR and DPR residents.
On February 6, observers of the Joint Centre for Ceasefire Control and Coordination (JCCCC) reported the shelling of Staromikhaylovka village using 122mm artillery. The Ukrainian military fired 12 mortar shells on the villages, and the enemy also used BMP infantry fighting vehicle main guns and large-caliber machine guns.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksey Reznikov published a draft law on the “de-occupation” of Donbass, which specifies a ban on elections of local authorities, the deprivation of rights of the local population, and in fact turning the republic residents possessing Russian passports to second-class citizens.
Earlier, the Ukrainian side refused to comply with the additional measures on the observation of the ceasefire, which it signed on July 22, 2020. Since September 10, it withdrew from the agreement by refusing to conduct a joint inspection of the site near Shumy village where the Ukrainian soldiers violated the additional measures.
Until recently, the Ukrainian side refused to discuss a new agreement on additional measurements to observe the ceasefire at the TAG meeting under any pretext.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
