Breakaway Donetsk Republic Fears Provocations By Kiev Forces Ahead Of US Officials' Visit

The People's Militia of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) in eastern Ukraine cannot rule out that the Ukrainian armed forces may carry out provocations in Donbas in the coming days to demonstrate to the Western countries that the situation on the line of contact has deteriorated, Eduard Basurin, the deputy chief of the People's Militia, said on Monday

DONETSK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th April, 2021) The People's Militia of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) in eastern Ukraine cannot rule out that the Ukrainian armed forces may carry out provocations in Donbas in the coming days to demonstrate to the Western countries that the situation on the line of contact has deteriorated, Eduard Basurin, the deputy chief of the People's Militia, said on Monday.

The DPR militia fears provocations as the region's intelligence received information that a delegation of the Defense Attache Office at the US Embassy in Ukraine is expected to arrive in the area of operation of the combined forces from April 6-8 to get acquainted with the situation.

"We do not exclude that, to demonstrate to the Western partners the aggravation on the line of contact, as well as to traditionally accuse us of shelling the territory controlled by Ukraine, Ukrainian armed forces will launch provocative fire, as well as record staged shelling of their positions," Basurin told reporters.

The conflict in the breakaway eastern region of Ukraine broke out in 2014, when Kiev launched an offensive against the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, conventionally referred to together as Donbas, after they proclaimed independence. Their decision came in response to what they considered a coup in Kiev that toppled the old government in February of that year.

The conflict has since been mediated by the so-called Normandy Format, including Russia, Ukraine, France, and Germany. In February 2015, Normandy leaders held talks in Minsk that resulted in an agreement to stop the fighting and seek a long-term political resolution to the conflict. During a Normandy summit in Paris in late 2019, all sides agreed that the Minsk agreements remained the basis of the Donbas conflict resolution.