Andriy Lysenko: Russia-backed militants bring heavy weapons to frontline to derail ceasefire

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Kyiv, May 13, 2015. Russia-backed militants brought heavy weapons to the frontline, aiming to undermine peace treaties, said Colonel Andriy Lysenko, spokesman of the Administration of the President of Ukraine on ATO related issues at the press briefing at Ukraine Crisis Media Center. “Russia-backed militants brought 122-mm and 152-mm cannons, tanks and other armored vehicles closer to the frontline. It leaves no doubt as to their intentions to derail the ceasefire and blame it on the Ukrainian side,” Col. Lysenko said.

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Militant groups made a series of provocations in Shyrokyne village in the Mariupol sector. Active use of heavy weapons was observed in the Donetsk sector in areas stretching from Krasnohorivka to Avdiivka. Pisky and Maryinka, as well as the area of Horlivka and Svitlodarsk, were the hotspots of most fierce fighting. In the Luhansk sector, there was a series of armed incidents in the area of Shchastya and Stanytsia Luhanska.

Ukrainian servicemen spotted 23 flights of enemy UAVs, including above the Sea of Azov.

Ukrainian Armed Forces suffered no lethal casualties; 10 servicemen were wounded in action in the last 24 hours.

Ukrainian volunteer medics and officers of military-civic cooperation delivered humanitarian aid for residents of Maryinka. Doctors from Khmelnytsky, Zhytomyr, Rivne and Kirovohrad regions treated more than 100 patients at the local hospital. Moreover, volunteers from the Rivne region presented military gear and two new SUVs to the Ukrainian soldiers.

Ukraine’s Security Service detained former mayor of Zolote, Luhansk region, and a policeman from Luhansk region – both were actively supporting Russia-backed militant groups. Also, security services successfully blocked e-wallets that gathered funds for militants through the international payment system.

Ukrainian police and operatives confiscated more than 12,000 ammunition rounds during the search of a vehicle in Pershotravensk, Dnipropetrovsk region.