Ukrainian MoD: Separatists have increased attacks in the Donbas prior to NATO summit
The head of the public relations department of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Bogdan Senik stated in his comment to Ukrainian Pravda that the increase in shelling in eastern Ukraine zone that has been observed in recent days can be explained by the desire to provoke Ukrainian servicemen before the NATO Summit.
“We connect the tendency towards increasing the amount of shelling over the recent period with holding of landmark meetings such as meeting in Minsk or other events, where the issue on de-escalation of the conflict in Donbas is being addressed,” Senik said. “Some sort of information and psychological pressure occurs,” Bogdan Senik noted.
According to him, this tendency has been confirmed with the coming of the NATO Summit in Warsaw. “There are grounds to believe that the militants would exploit such a significant event,” he said. “Shelling Ukrainian positions may provoke a forcible response that would allow them to show an attack from Ukraine in the most unfavorable light.” Senik says that the situation in the ATO zone remains critical and largely unpredictable.
The number of attacks from the separatits armed forces has increased over the recent weeks. The number of killed and wounded soldiers significantly increased during the past few days.