Donetsk, Nov 30 - DAN. Ukrainian forces are preparing to take frontline Viktorovka and Staromaryevka villages on Mariupol axis, DPR Operations Command deputy commander Eduard Basurin said on Thursday citing intelligence reports.
“The 28th separate mechanised brigade headquarters, acting upon orders of Operation Tactical Group “Donetsk” commander Vishevskiy, is planning to shorten the distance between the positions of Ukrainian army units and DPR militia by seizing Viktorovka and Staromaryevka villages located in the “grey zone,” Basurin said.
According to DPR intelligence, the local administrations have been asking residents about unoccupied houses in the village for subsequent billeting of Ukrainian servicemen.
“We’re urging the international community to denounce the Ukrainian authorities’ actions, and ask OSCE Special Monitoring Mission observers to pay close attention to these two localities,” he said.
Ukrainian army has made regular attempts to seize DPR-controlled territory since the adoption of the Package of Measures for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements on 12 February 2015. It has taken control of some ten settlements since.
In the latest seizure overnight to 22 November 2017, Ukrainian military took Gladosovo and Metallist (Ukraine’s name is Travevoye) villages outside Gorlovka. Kiev forces immediately deployed weapons to the villages and began to organise their positions. The issue of Kiev’s unwarranted seizure of territories was raised at the Contact Group meeting on 29 November. There has been no international response so far. *jk