MOSCOW, June 8. /TASS/. The Ukrainian Armed Forces plan to conduct artillery strikes on Russian border areas from the Sumy region in order to provoke return fire, Head of Russia’s National Defense Management Center Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev said on Wednesday.
"The plan of Kiev’s scriptwriters is that Ukrainian forces will conduct artillery strikes on Russian border areas from settlements in the Sumy region," said Mizintsev, who heads Russia’s interagency coordination center for humanitarian response in Ukraine.
According to him, after faking Russia’s return fire, Ukrainian intel officers are expected to spray strong poisonous substances in the area. The general noted that Ukrainian troops and territorial defense militants had been provided with chemical protection suits and drills were underway to practice steps that needed to be taken in case of a chemical alert.
"The incident will be recorded by experts from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons so that it can be used for accusing the Russian Armed Forces of using chemical weapons against civilians," Mizintsev noted. He emphasized, however, that the Russian army did not use chemical weapons and Russia’s chemical weapons stockpiles had been destroyed in accordance with the relevant agreements.