Kyiv, 29 January 2015 – The situation in the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) zone remains tense. Along the whole cease fire line, pro-Russian militants are intensively firing at the Ukrainian forces positions and are conducting reconnaissance to pull away the reserve forces of the Ukrainian Army. “Russian-and-terrorist groups are redeploying forces at the direction towards the cities of Debaltseve and Mariupol, and amassing manpower and equipment in a row of localities of Novoazovsk district,” stated Andriy Lysenko, the ATO spokesperson at a briefing at Ukraine Crisis Media Center “As per the reconnaissance data leaders of the illegal criminal groups are also making attempts to hold the so-called “military recruitment” of Horlivka locals,” he added. On the occupied territories of Donbas, there has been an increase in the number of military instructors sent from the Russian Federation.
According to the information of the “Pivnich” (North) operational command in the area of Bakhmutska, Ukrainian servicemen are successfully repelling militants’ attacks. “In the area of Zholobok locality, 10 tanks of illegal armed groups were destroyed in the last 3 days,” said Lysenko.. “Due to successful work of Ukrainian artillery and resulting from the lack of ammunition the density of the enemy’s fire has slightly decreased in this part.”Five “Ukrainian servicemen were killed in the last day, and 29 were wounded,”he added.
The Head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), Valentyn Nalyvaichenko, stated that from 20 to 23 January, as ordered by the General Staff of the Russian Federation Armed Forces, 7 mobile crematoria entered the territory of Ukraine, temporarily controlled by terrorists. “These Kamaz trucks were spotted in the end of 2014 in the Rostov region near the state border of Ukraine,” said Nalyvaichenko. The SBU’s hot line is daily addressed by dozens of the Russian Federation citizens who are searching for their relatives including Russian servicemen whom the Russian Federation has criminally sent to the territory of Ukraine,” explained ATO spokesman.