Ukrainian security officials increased the intensity of shelling of the territory of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic before the meeting of the contact group in Minsk scheduled for September 18, said the official of the LPR People’s Police press service Ivan Filiponenko at a briefing on Tuesday.
According to the LPR People’s Police, the Ukrainian security forces fired at the LPR territory five times since the beginning of the week. As a result of the shelling, one militia was killed and two were injured.
“The situation on the contact line remains tense and has a tendency to aggravate. In anticipation of the meeting of the tripartite contact group in Minsk scheduled for September 18, the command of the so-called Operation of the Joint Forces (OOS) increased the intensity of shelling of the territory of our republic, trying to provoke People’s Police units in response actions”, – Filiponenko said.
According to him, despite the ceasefire agreement, the Ukrainian command continues to build up forces and assets near the contact line. Filiponenko said that LPR intelligence had recorded the arrival of three tanks and two armored personnel carriers in the Kiev-controlled settlement of Dmitrovka. According to the LPR People’s Police, Ukrainian armored vehicles are also recorded in the area of Voitovo, Peredelsk and Zolotoy.
In addition, he added that security officials “continue to obstruct the work of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission”. According to Filiponenko, on September 14, the electronic warfare unit (EW) in the area of responsibility of the 14th brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces suppressed the control channels of the OSCE SMM drone in the area of Kapitanovo in the Donbass.