WASHINGTON, December 11. /TASS/. Russia calls on Washington not to turn a blind eye on active military buildup by the Ukrainian forces and right-wing extremists along the contact line in Donbass that could trigger the implementation of a bloody scenario, the Russian Embassy to the US said.
The Embassy urges the US State Department to recognize the presence of US instructors in the zone of combat actions, who are involved in a command and staff and field training of Ukraine’s assault airborne brigades. "We expect that the US will bring to reason its proteges. Their aggressive plans are not only doomed to failure but also run counter to the statements of the administration on its commitment to resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine by political and diplomatic means," the statement said.
On Monday, Eduard Basurin, deputy defense minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), said that Ukraine’s army was planning to stage a large-scale offensive at the Mariupol section of the contact line in Donbass on December 14. A large group of forces and military hardware was deployed to the contact line, he said.
According to the DPR’s reconnaissance data, Ukrainian troops plan to seize the DPR’s Novoazovsky and Temanovsky districts and take control over the border section with Russia. The main attack force of over 12,000 servicemen has been deployed along the contact line near the settlements of Novotroitskoye, Shirokino, and Rovnopol. Moreover, more than 50 tanks, 40 multiple missile launcher systems, 180 artillery systems and mortars have been reportedly pulled to the area, Basurin added. Besides, 12 BM-30 Smerch heavy multiple rocket launchers have been sent near Volodarsky.
The DPR has warned about possible provocations plotted by Ukrainian troops several times. Thus, in early December, the DPR’s defense ministry cited reconnaissance data indicating that the Ukrainian military was planning to stage an offensive and deliver an airstrike. At a Contact Group meeting on December 5, DPR’s Foreign Minister Natalia Nikonorova raised the issue of Kiev’s possible use of chemical weapons in the conflict area.