Ø The current situation in the Eastern regions of Ukraine remains very tense with permanent terrorist and subversive activities of separatists, theircontinuous armed assaults on the CTO units and Russian militaries’ direct involvement in active hostilities.
Ø Since early July, Ukrainian militaries and border guards are regularly shelled from the territory of the Russian Federation, which led to numerous casualties among the CTO forces.
On April 17, the first provocation on the state border took place, when Russians captured Ukrainian border patrol for the first time.
On June 5, attacks on the positions of Ukrainian border guards started from the Russian territory, when terrorists bypassed Ukrainian border checkpoint “Marynivka” and attacked it from the Russian territory.
On average, daily Russian militaries carry out 3-5 artillery attacks on Ukrainian border guard units. The number of armed attacks from the Russian territory is already over 100.
The Russian Federation Armed Forces use all types of small arms, the NSV heavy machine guns "Utjos", sniper rifles VKS “Vykhlop”, grenade launchers, Akatsia self-propelled Howitzers, and multiple Launch Rocket System BM-21 ("Grad").
In order to provoke the Russian Federation to return fire and trigger off the direct military aggression against Ukraine, from time to time terrorists shell the Russian territory near Ukrainian border checkpoints.
Ukrainian soldiers have never fired on the territory of a neighboring state or its residential areas.
For reference: Russian militaries shelled the CTO forces and Ukrainian border guards from multiple Launch Rocket Systems BM-21 ("Grad") which illegally crossed Ukrainian border, opened fire and then went back to Russia. We recorded such infiltration into the Ukrainian territory on July 16, in the Amvrosiyivka border area and on July 21, near the village of Shevchenko (Donetsk oblast).
Over the last week, Ukrainian militaries were shelled from the territory of the Russian Federation nearly 20 times.
On July 28, at 10.50 a.m. the border checkpoint “Krasna Talivka” was shelled with grenade launchers from Russia.
On July 28, 3.30-5.00 p.m. the Ukrainian Army units near the strategic area of Savur Mohyla were shelled with multiple Launch Rocket System BM-21 ("Grad") from the Russian village of Novooleksandrovske.
On July 28, at 6.47 p.m. a strategic height of Savur Mohyla was shelled with artillery from the Russian village of Novooleksandrovske.
On July 29, the "Marynivka" border checkpoint was shelled with mortars from the Russian territory.
On July 29, the town of Amvrosiyivka and the village of Stepanivka were shelled with Grad-P Light portable rocket systems from the Russian Federation.
On July 30, at 12.45 p.m. the "Marynivka" border checkpoint was shelled with multiple Launch Rocket System BM-21 ("Grad") from the Russian territory.
Today from 8.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. the positions of the Ukrainian Army were shelled 6 times.
Since the beginning of the CTO, the casualties of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are as follows: 363 military men killed, 1434 military men wounded.
Ø We are alarmed by the information that Russia actively pulls its troops and military hardware to the Ukrainian-Russian border not only along Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, but also along neighboring Sumy and Kharkiv oblasts. This undoubtedly indicates Russia's unwillingness to contribute to the de-escalation of the situation.
Ø The CTO forces liberate from the terrorists towns and villages in the eastern regions of Ukraine.
For reference: this week Ukrainian militaries liberated the town of Debaltseve, strategic height of Savur-Mohyla (Donetsk oblast), the village of Stepanivka and the town of Avdiyivka.
Ø In order to discredit the CTO forces, the terrorists shell the residential areas with tanks and multiple Launch Rocket Systems BM-21 ("Grad").
Ukrainian militaries do not use weapons against civilians!
Ø The most obvious and provocative examples of Russian militaries’ direct involvement in active hostilities are as follows:
1. On July 14, the An-26 plane of the Ukrainian Armed Forces with 8 military men on board was shot down by the terrorists in the Luhansk oblast.
Given the fact that the plane was cruising at altitude of 6500 m, its damaging by MANPADS, used by terrorists, was impossible. Thus, the plane was downed by another, more powerful and sophisticated missile weapon that was supposedly used from the Russian territory.
2. On July 15, an unidentified plane bombarded the residential areas in the town of Snizhne in the Donetsk oblast. The planes of the Ukrainian Armed Forces didn’t carry out any flights at that moment because of the rescue operation (the An-26 that was downed on July 14).
3. On July 15, the armored vehicles column (at least 30 units) moved through the “Izvarino” border checkpoint towards the towns of Krasnodon and Luhansk.
4. On July 16, the Ukrainian border guards discovered the signs of infiltration into the Ukrainian territory by 5 pieces of the military equipment in the Amvrosiyivka border area, most probably by the "Grad" multiple launch rocket systems.
Ukrainian border guards also saw a tractor ploughing the contiguous territory, thus destroying evidence of the illegal crossing of the Ukrainian border by the military equipment from the Russian territory.
5. On July 16, in the evening a military aircraft of the Russian Armed Forces launched a missile strike at the Ukrainian Su-25 plane near the village of Hryhorivka (25 km from the town of Amvrosiyivka). According to the Ukrainian military intel, it was Russian MiG-29 jet fighter (NATO reporting name - “Fulcrum”) that was used against the Su-25.
6. On July 17, the militaries wearing the uniform of the Russian Armed Forces without any relevant insignia among the terrorists were witnessed near the village of Izvarine.
7. On July 18, at 2.30 a.m. 2 "Buk" SAM systems were moved from the town of Severny (Luhansk oblast) to the town of Donetsk (Rostov oblast, Russia). At 4:00 p.m. two movers: one of them carrying a “Buk” missile launcher and the other allegedly with a control unit crossed the state border.
8. On July 18, at 8.00 a.m. the column of military equipment moved through a so-called "humanitarian corridor" in the direction from the town of Donetsk (Russia) to the village of Bilenke (Ukraine).
9. On July 18, terrorists transported a "Buk" SAM system from the town of Snizhne towards the village of Dmytrivka.
10. On July 21, near the village of Shevchenko 14 units of multiple Launch Rocket Systems BM-21 ("Grad") penetrated into Ukraine from the Russian Federation. The military equipment performed volley towards the border checkpoint Dovzhanskyy and after that left for Russian territory.
11. On July 23, two Su-25 fighter jets of the Ukrainian Armed Forces at altitude of 5200 m were shot down by surface-to-air missile systems near the village of Dmytrivka (Donetsk oblast). According to our preliminary information, the launch of the missiles was carried out from the territory of the Russian Federation.
12. On July 27, for more than 4 hours the border checkpoint “Dovzhansky” was shelled with mortars and howitzers from the Russian town of Chernikov.
Ø Russia still concentrates its troops and heavy weaponry near the border. The number of provocations on the border has significantly increased. We constantly record the violations of the Ukrainian airspace by Russian helicopters and drones (UAVs).
Ø The Russians continue the infiltration of militants and inflow of arms and heavy weaponry. Every day there are usually several attempts by the columns of Russian heavy weaponry and militants to break into the territory of Ukraine. We have the documentary evidence of these facts.
For reference: On July 30, 7 tanks penetrated into Ukraine from the Russian territory.
Ø Ukraine calls on the international community to recognize self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics terrorist organizations.