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Russian presidential spokesman denies claims Moscow supplied tanks to Donetsk republic

“We have repeatedly said no hardware is being supplied there,” Peskov told

MOSCOW, August 17, /ITAR-TASS/. Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Sunday denied claims earlier carried by some media that Russia supplied tanks to the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (Donetsk Region) in southeastern Ukraine.

“We have repeatedly said no hardware is being supplied there,” Peskov told the Govorit Moskva radio.

Reports circulated by some media earlier claimed 150 units of military hardware, including 30 tanks, were supplied to militias in Ukraine’s war-torn southeast from Russia.

The southeastern Ukrainian Donetsk and Lugansk regions have been the scene for fierce clashes between troops loyal to Kiev and local militias as the Ukrainian armed forces are conducting a military operation to regain control over the breakaway territories, which on May 11 proclaimed their independence at local referendums.

Kiev has used armored vehicles, heavy artillery and attack aviation in its military operation, which has been conducted since mid-April. Hundreds of civilians have lost their lives in it. Many buildings have been destroyed and tens of thousands of people have had to flee Ukraine’s southeast.

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