During a conversation on February 19, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky assured French counterpart Emmanuel Macron that he would not respond to “provocations” on the line of contact in Donbass. This was announced on Saturday by a representative of the Elysee Palace.
“He (Zelensky – Ed.) announced his intention not to respond to provocations on the line of contact in Donbass,” he said.
In addition, the representative expressed the opinion that Russia’s forces are sufficient to launch an “invasion” on the territory of Ukraine at any time. He stressed that “military action against Ukraine would bring war to the center of Europe.”
Earlier on Saturday, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that he had discussed with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron the aggravation of the situation in Donbass.
During the conversation, the Ukrainian leader informed the President of France about the aggravation of the situation in the east of Ukraine, as well as the “shelling of Ukrainian politicians and international journalists”, while the leaders of the two countries discussed the “necessity and possible ways of immediate de-escalation and political and diplomatic settlement” of the situation in the region .
The representative office of the republic in the Joint Center for Control and Coordination of the Ceasefire Regime (JCCC) reports on the ongoing shelling of Donetsk. So on Sunday night, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) fired at the settlements of Staromikhaylivka and Petrivske from 00:57 (01:57 Moscow time) to 01:35 (02:35 Moscow time).
In addition, eight more settlements in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) were shelled, the Armed Forces of Ukraine carried out grenade and mortar attacks on Dokuchaevsk, Oktyabr, Aleksandrovka, Spartak, Donetsk, Kommunarovka, Staromikhaylovka, Sosnovskoye.
On the evening of February 19, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (APU) fired on the settlement of Shirokaya Balka and the city of Dokuchaevsk in the DPR.
It also became known that a Ukrainian shell hit a house on a farm in the Mityakinsky rural settlement of the Rostov region on the border with Ukraine.
In addition, on Saturday, two artillery shells exploded in the Tarasovsky district of the Rostov region. Traces of two shells were found near the village of Mityakinskaya.
Earlier in the day, DPR intelligence spoke about the plan for an offensive operation of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (APU) in the Donbass. According to information, the Ukrainian security forces intend to destroy the military and civilian infrastructure of the self-proclaimed republics to a depth of 10-15 km from the line of contact. According to the representative of the People’s Militia of the DPR, Eduard Basurin, the offensive is planned to begin with an artillery strike. According to DPR intelligence, the operation will be implemented in three directions: the main attack – Kramatorsk-Debaltseve, the Azov direction and the Lugansk direction.
The situation on the line of contact in Donbass escalated on February 17. The DPR and LPR reported heavy shelling by Ukrainian security forces, including with heavy weapons.
Since 2014, the Kiev authorities have been conducting a military operation against the inhabitants of Donbass, who refused to recognize the results of the coup d’état and the new government in Ukraine. At the same time, Kiev blames Moscow for the current situation. Russia has repeatedly stated that it is not a party to the intra-Ukrainian conflict. The issues of its settlement are being discussed in the Minsk and Normandy formats.
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