The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine calls on Russia to stop armed provocations in the Donbas
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has issued a protest statement in response to the increase in Russia's military activity in the Donbas and intensive attacks by pro-Russian forces, including the use of tanks, self-propelled artillery systems, rocket artillery, and mortars, as indicated in a statement posted on the agency’s website on Friday evening.
“We are especially concerned with the damage to an apartment building in the town of Krasnohorivka (Donetsk Oblast), as well as an attack by a Russian militant group in this city on July 20th,” the statement says.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry regards the actions of Russia and the militants’ supported by it as a deliberate disruption of the "harvest ceasefire,” which was to continue from June 24 to August 31.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that, Ukraine lost 11 military servicemen while an additional 15 military servicemen and two civilians had been wounded within three days from July 18 to 20.
“We have to state once again that the Kremlin deliberately undermines the peace process outlined in the Minsk Agreements through the actions of its military servicemen in the armed conflict zone which was launched by Russia in the Donbas, as well as by provocative and aggressive statements of its puppet structures,” the statement of the Ministry says.
“We demand that the Russian Federation immediately stop the armed provocations that add to the number of victims and destroy the infrastructure of the region, and start to implement their obligations under the Minsk Agreements in good faith and to the full extent,” the Ministry added.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry stated that it “expects a clear reaction in response to the aggressive actions of Russian hybrid forces in the Donbas from the international community, and an increase in pressure on the Russian Federation, with the intent of the immediate cessation of hostilities”.