LUGANSK, April 19. /TASS/. Ukrainian troops have been making attempts to strengthen their air defenses in the Donetsk area, Lt. Col. (Ret.) of the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) militia Andrey Marochko told TASS on Wednesday.

"The enemy is trying to build up its air defenses in the Donetsk direction. The number of air defense observation posts, as well as equipment and weapons of anti-aircraft missile forces has increased in the localities of Slavyansk, Kramatorsk and Druzhkovka," he said, citing Russian recon data.

According to Marochko, the hardware Ukrainian security forces are using to strengthen their air defenses is mostly Soviet-made, but there are also Western systems. The technical characteristics of the systems being used "do not enable the enemy to work properly to fully protect the airspace," he added.

The activity of Ukrainian reconnaissance drones has significantly increased in the Donetsk direction, Yan Gagin, adviser to the acting head of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), said on Tuesday.