Donetsk, May 14 – DAN. Ukraine's strikes on DPR continue, risking escalation and deterioration of security situation outside Gorlovka, said the head of the DPR Armed Forces press service Daniil Bezsonov.
"The units of the 24th and 54th brigades of the Ukrainian armed forces under command of Gudz and Maistrenko, shelled residential quarters of Shirokaya Balka and Nikitovskiy district of Gorlovka," he said.
According to Bezsonov, the abovementioned commanders are also responsible for May 11 attacks on Chigari outside Gorlovka, where Ukrainian troops unsuccessfully attempted to occupy dominating heights, instead losing advantageous positions and occupying a peaceful lowland settlement.
DPR considers attacks on Gorlovka, which left three civilians injured, to be a Ukrainian revenge for the failed operation, on which the Ukrainian command had pinned their hopes.
"The Chigari is a creek on the south-eastern outskirts of Yuzhnoye, where a high level of water does not allow digging trenches. The enemy is not able to open fire from the lowlands, as their firing positions would be revealed from our dominating heights.
Ukrainian units shell Gorlovka from their previously occupied positions, intensifying the fire as a retaliation for the failed operation," Bezsonov said.
The DPR intelligence reported Ukrainian command intensifying personnel trainings after the Chigari defeat. "The number of trainings grew in Artyemovskiy district (known as Bakhmutskiy in Ukraine), raising units to highest alert level and deploying artillery (including banned under the Minks Agreements) to staging areas."
The Gorlovka escalation coincided with the visit of the U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker, who plans trips to Gorlovka area in Donbass. *ot