Russia accuses Ukraine of military offensive in Donbas
The spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are carrying out attacks in some areas of the Donbas.
"The hotheads of the Kyiv regime, apparently feeling complete impunity, are in favor of a military solution to the internal Ukrainian crisis," RIA Novosti quotes Zakharova as saying.
The representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry added that Ukrainian servicemen allegedly use weapons prohibited by the Minsk agreements. At the same time, Zakharova stressed that such weapons are supplied to Ukraine by NATO countries. She noted that the offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the area of Granitne and Staromarivka are allegedly evidenced by the reports of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission.
In turn, the press secretary of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, Oleg Nikolenko, in a comment to Ukrainska Pravda said that Zakharova’s claims do not correspond to reality.
"Such insinuations have one goal: to provide information cover for Russian troops amid escalating security situation in the Donbas and along the Ukrainian border," he said.
Nikolenko drew attention to the fact that the reports of the OSCE SMM indicate systemic restrictions on OSCE inspections in the territories of the Donbas which are not under Ukraine control, blocking of OSCE communication and surveillance equipment, threats to the personal security of international observers by the Russian militants.
The spokesman of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry recalled that in early November the head of the OSCE officially called on the Russian authorities in the Donbas to provide OSCE observers access to areas not controlled by the Ukrainian government, but Russia ignored this call.
According to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, Russia has deployed more than 92,000 troops to the Ukrainian border and is preparing for an attack in end of January or early February.