Kyiv, 16 June 2014 – “Right now it is not about a sort of conflict or a civil war. We are talking about Russia’s full-scale – disguised, to be more correct, – military invasion of Ukraine”, said Dmytro Tymchuk, Head of the Center for Political and Military Studies, coordinator of the Information Resistance Group, during a press briefing at the Ukraine Crisis Media Center.
Mr. Tymchuk stressed again that all events that are now taking place in the eastern regions of Ukraine are directly supported by the Russian Federation: “When the anti-terrorist operation entered its active phase, the activity of local terrorist groups began to slow down. This was primarily because local militants are not ready to shed their own blood. For the most part they just drop their weapons and leave. Mercenaries deployed from Russia are left at the core of the terrorists forces. They are the main driving force. Now they are resorting to psychological pressure by sending armored vehicles. Tanks are hardly a good weapon in the urban environment, and they are rather used for psychological effect.” At the same time, Dmytro Tymchuk said that using multiple rocket launchers (MRL) can have catastrophic consequences: “MRL is a weapon system designed to implement the ‘scorched earth’ tactics leading to uncontrolled casualties among civilians.”
Another big issue is the lack of control over a part of the border with Russia in the Luhansk Region. Dmytro Tymchuk explained that only a part of the Ukraine-Russia border is fully controlled by the Ukrainian military.
“The Ukrainian forces are only controlling one third, while the remaining two thirds are under a big question mark. Moreover, at least two checkpoints are in fact working for terrorists. It is through these checkpoints that Russian forces and military equipment are being deployed in close cooperation with the Russian border guards. It is now not just the equipment no longer in use by the Russian army, but it now involves Russia’s currently used military equipment, as it was in the case with BM-21 Grad MRL used in the suburbs of Dobropillia,” said the Head of the Center for Political and Military Studies.
Answering the question about the downed IL-76 plane, Mr. Tymchuk assumed that the tragedy may have been the result of an information leak. “Terrorists received information about the plane from traitors. There is a lot of evidence suggesting that the information about the air deployment of personnel and equipment was leaked. A major question remains as to who ordered to carry out this operation at that particular time despite the fact that both the reconnaissance and the units that controlled the Luhansk airport reported that there were groups of terrorists in the vicinity of the airport and that the safety of the area could not be guaranteed,” said Dmytro Tymchuk.
