The so-called Donetsk republic (DPR) has announced command and staff maneuvers which will involve 4,000 persons, 300 vehicles and military equipment units.
The event is to kick off on Tuesday, Interfax-Ukraine agency reports with reference to DPR military official Eduard Basurin.
“The drills will be held a long way from the demarcation line set out by the Minsk agreements,” he said.
However, the militants’ artillery practiced combat activities last week.
The situation in the Russian-backed separatist republic remains tense after its leader Alexander Zakharchenko was killed in a bomb attack on August, 31. His associates put the blame on ‘Ukrainian saboteurs’ and decided to elect a new leader and members of People’s Council on November, 11. The self-proclaimed Luhansk republic has scheduled the elections for the same day.
In response, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry urged international partners to tighten pressure on Moscow as, according to them, holding early elections is the Russian occupation administration’s intention. Provocative actions of Russia deliberately undermine the Minsk agreements and could nullify international efforts to resolve the conflict, Ukrainian diplomats stressed.
