DPR Says Kiev Preparing For Intensifying Hostilities In Donbas

DONETSK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 07th August, 2019) The Ukrainian forces near the city of Mariupol have been put on high alert, which demonstrates Kiev's preparations for intensifying hostilities in the eastern region of Donbas, a spokesperson for the people's militia of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) told reporters.

The spokesperson said on Tuesday that the DPR militia had obtained information about putting Ukrainian units and formations on high alert and moving them to advanced positions near Mariupol.

"We are considering such actions of the Ukrainian party as direct preparations for intensive hostilities against our republic.

We are not ruling out that in the near future the Ukrainian occupants will commit terror attacks near the forefront in order to create a pretext for the start of an offensive," the spokesperson noted.

In April 2014, the Ukrainian government launched a military operation against the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics, which declared their independence after the overthrow of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, which was considered by them as a coup.

The warring parties signed the Minsk peace accords to end the hostilities in the region in February 2015, but ceasefire violations continue to be claimed by both sides.