{"id":60109,"date":"2016-09-12T17:45:15","date_gmt":"2016-09-12T17:45:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/uacrisis.org\/?p=46984"},"modified":"2016-11-08T14:32:09","modified_gmt":"2016-11-08T11:32:09","slug":"46984-mod-spokesperson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/46984-mod-spokesperson","title":{"rendered":"Russian regulars and proxies repeatedly violate ceasefire in ATO zone \u2013 MoD spokesperson \u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Politically negotiated ceasefire over the last week mostly stood, yet Ukraine lost its servicemen. More evidence of Russia\u2019s involvement confirmed by a recently detained on Ukrainian territory former Russian police officer.<\/em><\/p>\n

Over the last week, the ceasefire, which started on September 1 as a result of political negotiations initiated by the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, was largely holding. However, Russian regulars and proxy forces repeatedly violated ceasefire in all major sector of the conflict zone, namely Luhansk, Donetsk and Mariupol sectors, stated Vilyen Pidgornyy, Ukrainian Ministry of Defense spokesperson on the Russia-Ukraine military conflict. \u201cRussia-backed militants violate ceasefire most frequently in the Mariupol sector. This is the only sector where the militants opened fire from heavy weapons, namely 82 and 120 mm mortars, 122 mm artillery\u201d, he added.<\/p>\n

According to Vilyen Pidgornyy, areas where the vast majority of ceasefire violations also occurred include: Popasna in the Luhansk region, Avdiivka together with its industrial zone, Maryinka and Shyrokyne in the Donetsk region. These are the areas where Ukrainian troops had suffered some of the casualties. Total number of casualties constitutes five service members have fallen and eight were wounded in action. \u201cWe can observe a certain increase of ceasefire violations over the week. On Monday, September 5, we observed 20 ceasefire violations by Russia-backed militants, while on Sunday, September 11, the total number reached 36,\u201d explained Ministry of Defence spokesperson on the Russia-Ukraine military conflict.<\/p>\n

New Russian trace in the conflict
\n<\/strong>On September 9, an important event happened on the frontline that adds up to overwhelming evidence of Russia\u2019s direct military involvement in the conflict. \u201cUkrainian troops detained a Russian citizen and former police captain Denis Sidorov who fought in eastern Ukraine. Denis Sidorov was a member of the reconnaissance company in the so-called \u201c3rd Brigade\u201d of Russian proxy forces stationed in Horlivka. According to Ukraine\u2019s military intelligence, he is a veteran of Chechen wars and a Neo-Nazi sympathizer. Sidorov\u2019s tattoos seem to confirm that he might be sharing the far-right convictions,\u201d reported Mr Pidgornyy. \u00a0According to Sidorov, the entire chain of command of the so-called \u201c3rd Brigade\u201d is controlled by Russian regulars. Sidorov told that a new Russian officer, Colonel Alexei Berdnikov, call sign Brest, was appointed as commander in August. According to Ukraine\u2019s military intelligence, Mr Berdnikov was a commander of the 60th Motorized Brigade, which is located in Primorsky Krai, Russia\u2019s Far East. Previously, Ukraine\u2019s military intelligence reported about deployment of the air defense division equipped with Tor-M2U anti-aircraft systems (NATO classification name: SA-15 \u201cGauntlet\u201d). \u201cThis state-of-art military hardware has been recently introduced to the Russian Armed Forces and has never been exported to Ukraine,\u201d Vilyen Pidgornyy added.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s briefing is a start of a series of weekly press briefings that will cover the Russia-Ukraine military conflict in eastern Ukraine and Crimea that has been going on for the last two and a half years. The briefings will traditionally start at 16:00 Mondays but may be moved to the same time slot on any other day if Monday is a national holiday.<\/p>\n