Russia's Grad, Tornado rocket systems, armoured vehicles, tanks break into Ukraine at night – ATO press centre
Even as the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany wrangled over the terms of a ceasefire agreement in Minsk on Wednesday and Thursday, more weapons of war crossed into Ukraine from Russia, Ukrainian military sources say.
The spokesperson of the government’s Anti-Terrorist Operation headquarters, Andriy Lysenko, at a briefing in Kyiv on Thursday said a record amount of Russian military hardware was spotted crossing into Ukraine from Russia overnight.
“Despite the statements of high-ranking officials of the Russian Federation regarding the absence of Russian military equipment and troops on the territory of Ukraine, on the night of February 12, the movement of 50 tanks, 40 Grad, Uragan and Tornado multiple rocket launcher systems and the same number of armored vehicles was observed crossing the Russian-Ukrainian border in the area of Izvarino,” news agency UNIAN quotes Lysenko as saying.
Despite peace talks being held in Minsk, the fighting on the ground in eastern Ukraine continues. Ukrainian troops are under continual attack in the town of Debaltseve between the cities of Donetsk and Luhansk by Russian-backed militants.
In the south of the country, Azov volunteer battalion said it was attacked three times by militants after the Ukrainian force advanced and took ground from the enemy. The battalion said it repulsed all of the militant attacks.
The Ukrainian armed forces on Thursday stormed the village of Logvinovo, a key point on the Artemivsk-Debaltseve highway that was occupied earlier by Russian-backed militants, Donbas Battalion Commander Semen Semenchenko said on Facebook.
Ukrainian forces are battling to relieve a group of Ukrainian soldiers in Debaltseve, a key strategic town that has been under constant attack by Russian-backed militants for more than a week. The town is a rail and road transport hub, and an important objective for both sides.
www.belsat.eu/en, via UNIAN
