MOSCOW, April 18. /TASS/. Reconnaissance units of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) have detected Polish snipers-mercenaries three kilometers from the contact line of the sides of the southeast Ukrainian conflict near the city of Donetsk, spokesman for the DPR Defense Ministry Eduard Basurin said on Monday.
"The arrival of a group of Polish snipers-mercenaries comprising eight people has been recorded in the area of the Krasnogorovka city (three kilometers from the contact line)," he is quoted by the Donetsk News Agency.
In early April 2016, the DPR people’s militia intelligence reported the arrival of snipers and spotters from Poland and Serbia to the contact line. In particular, Kiev sent to the Maryinka area then 21 Polish snipers and deployed Serbian spotters near Avdeyevka.
Previously, the DPR Defense Ministry repeatedly reported the arrival in the Donbass area of foreign mercenaries, including citizens form the EU, NATO and the Middle East countries. In particular, accomplices of the Islamic State (IS), Poles, Georgians, Americans, Turks and representatives of the Baltic States and other countries are fighting on the side of Ukraine in the area of· the · military operation in Donbass.
Tactical drills with use of heavy weapons conducted in demilitarized zone
Eduard Basurin has also said that Ukrainian army units have conducted military drills in the settlement of Volnovakha in Donbass, which is prohibited by the Minsk agreements.
"Ukraine’s 72nd infantry brigade reportedly conducted tactical drills with the use of heavy weapons, including artillery systems, tanks, mortars, etc., near the village of Starognatovka near Volnovakha," the Donetsk News Agency quoted him as saying.
Basurin stressed that this locality is part of the demilitarized zone where any military drills with the use of heavy weapons are prohibited by the Minsk agreements.
Ukrainian forces block mobile communications to prevent residents from reporting on movement of military equipment
Ukrainian forces block mobile communications on Kiev-controlled territories in Donbass to prevent local resident from reporting on movement of military equipment to the contact line, Eduard Basurin went on to say.
"Our sources say that the Ukrainian side is restricting mobile communications for residents of the Kiev-controlled territory to prevent them from reporting on positions and movements of banned Ukrainian weaponry and military equipment," Donetsk News Agency quoted Basurin as saying.
According to DPR defense ministry, Ukrainian forces are carrying our such activities in the Volnovakhsky district in the settlements of Novotroitskoye, Bogdanovka and Rybinskoye. "Our intelligence service registered movement of artillery systems, rocket systems, tanks and mortars to the contact line precisely in those regions," Basurin noted.
Weaponry withdrawal is envisaged by the Minsk accords signed on 12 February 2015, after negotiations in the so-called "Normandy format" in the Belarusian capital Minsk, bringing together Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. The package of measures also envisages ceasefire, prisoner exchange, local election in Donbass, constitutional reform in Ukraine and establishing working sub-groups on security, political, economy and humanitarian components of the Minsk accords.