MOSCOW, February 12. /TASS/. The situation in eastern Ukraine is getting worse day by day, and may escalate to a point when the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) will have to request assistance from Russia, DPR leader Denis Pushilin told the Rossiya-24 TV channel.

"The situation [along the line of contact in eastern Ukraine] deteriorates exponentially. In other words, there is troop buildup, and the number of weapons, prohibited by the Minsk agreements, is also on the increase the line of contact," he said. "We do not rule out that the situation may deteriorate to a point when we will be forced to request the Russian Federation’s help."

Pushilin added that, according to the DPR intelligence, hundreds of Polish and US mercenaries are arriving at the line of contact.

"In this situation, we are prepared that a Ukrainian offensive may start at any time," he continued. "There are lots of threats and scenarios, <…> and we will react according to the situation."

Concerns over Moscow’s alleged preparations for an invasion into Ukraine have been increasingly announced in the West and in Kiev recently. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov castigated these statements as an empty and groundless escalation of tension, emphasizing that Russia posed no threat to anyone. At the same time, the Kremlin press secretary did not exclude some possible provocations to justify such claims and warned that the attempts to resolve the Ukrainian conflict by force would carry extremely serious consequences.