DONETSK, February 11. /TASS/. The Ukrainian Armed Forces have deployed a battalion of the S-300 surface-to-air missile systems to Donbass in order to prepare for an offensive, Deputy Chief of the People’s Militia of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Eduard Basurin said on Friday.
"According to our information, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are carrying out activities that we view as preparations for offensive operations," Basurin wrote on the DPR Militia’s Telegram channel.
"A battalion of the S-300 surface-to-air missile systems of the 160th Air Defense Missile Brigade has been redeployed from the Odessa Region to the Kramatorsk airfield in order to protect a command center of the united forces operation (which is what Kiev calls its military operation in Donbass - TASS)," the DPR military official pointed out.
In addition, according to Basurin, troops from the 92nd Separate Mechanized Brigade are being deployed to Donbass from the Kharkov Region under the guise of drills. "The brigade’s task forces have been seen arriving in the area of responsibility of the 30th Separate Mechanized Brigade near Debaltsevo," the DPR official noted.
Near Donetsk, the Vostok tactical group has held exercises involving the newly formed armored units of the 53rd and 54th Separate Mechanized Brigades. Special attention was paid "to organizing interaction among advancing troops and ensuring continuous artillery support," Basurin specified. According to him, the movement of the Ukrainian army’s multiple rocket launchers has been pinpointed near the Konstantinkovka, Zhelannoye, Ilyinka, Khlebodarovka and Topolinoye settlements less than 30 kilometers from the line of contact. "We have no doubt that if hostilities break out, the Ukrainian Armed Forces command will not only launch massive strikes on the frontline positions of the People’s Militia but will also try to destroy crucial civilian infrastructure facilities in the republic," Basurin stressed.
The DPR military official emphasized that the Kiev authorities had repeatedly been caught engaging foreign mercenaries in military activities in Donbass. Those were claimed to be instructors training Ukrainian troops. "In fact, our intelligence confirms the presence of British and Polish mercenaries near Shirokino and Popasnaya. Their presence in Donbass is also corroborated by information from open sources," Basurin added. "We have taken note of the stepped-up activities of Ukrainian intelligence agencies who seek to obtain information about the location of headquarters, command points and other important military and civilian infrastructure facilities in the republic. Officers from the Ukrainian Security Service, in a manner typical of the Kiev regime, are using threats and blackmail to put direct pressure on our servicemen’s family members living in the Kiev-controlled areas," the DPR official stressed.