MOSCOW, February 18. /TASS/. Moscow hopes to get a clearer picture of the recent clash in Donbass before making any conclusions, says Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
"We hope that we would be able to clarify the details shortly, before jumping to any conclusions," he said.
He admitted that the Kremlin indeed "saw the information that in the early hours [of Tuesday] a clash occured between Lugansk People’s Republic Militia and Ukrainian Armed Forces."
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"We do not have details of this clash, we do not know what provoked this clash, [but] we have read messages that both sides had casualties, and this is what we express our condolences for," the spokesman commented.
Peskov vehemently denied that Moscow might be responsible for what had happened. "No, this wording is totally wrong, one must not perceive it like this," he told journalists.
Earlier, the People’s Militia of the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) reported that the Ukrainian Armed Forces attempted to destabilize the situation on the contact line in Donbass.
According to the People’s Militia, early on Tuesday, a subversive group of ten advanced towards the positions near Golubovskoye, but got blown up at a minefield. Two servicemen reportedly died and three got injured. Following the incident, "in a bid to evacuate the dead and the wounded, the command of the 93rd Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces ordered a massive artillery strike on LNR settlements," the Militia says.
The Ukrainian Joint Forces Operations HQ reported that one Ukrainian soldier died "during a fight at the front line" in Donbass.