The General Staff of the Armed Sid of Ukraine has prepared a plan for the invasion of the territory of the unrecognized Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, said Eduard Basurin, deputy head of the People’s Militia Department of the DPR.
“The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has already prepared a plan for the invasion of the territories of the republics, it will soon be approved by the Security Council of Ukraine,” Basurin said on the air of the Rossiya-1 TV channel. According to him, Ukraine is deploying additional units and military formations to the Donbass, and is also preparing and sending sabotage groups that should work within the city limits. “In principle, Ukraine, under the slogans of peace, is actually preparing for war,” he added.
Basurin’s statement was made against the backdrop of growing geopolitical tensions in the region: Moscow claims that Kiev is not fulfilling the Minsk agreements, delaying negotiations to resolve the conflict, and has concentrated half of its personnel on the border with the DPR and LPR. According to the Ukrainian and American military commanders, Russia has pulled about 100,000 Russian troops to the borders of Ukraine. Moscow denies the existence of plans for military aggression: according to the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov, the concentration of troops is a reaction to NATO military exercises in the region and the advancement of the alliance’s infrastructure to the borders of Russia.
Ukraine on February 13 requested a meeting with Russia and the OSCE Vienna Document countries within 48 hours to discuss the redeployment of Russian troops near the Ukrainian borders. As reported by the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the republic Dmitry Kuleba, this happened after Moscow ignored Kiev’s demand to indicate the exact areas of maneuvers, the number of military formations and types of weapons.
The day before, the head of the unrecognized Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), Denis Pushilin, said that Kiev is increasing the number of military personnel and military equipment in the Donbass. On February 12, the People’s Militia of the LPR reported that Kiev was deploying armored vehicles in residential areas near the line of contact in the Donbass, and a day earlier, the DPR reported about the transfer of the Ukrainian division of S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems near Kramatorsk.