Due to a significant increase in the number of attacks over the past two weeks, particularly in the Mariupol sector, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) of Ukraine Oleksandr Turchynov visited this sector of the Anti-Terrorist Operation zone, where he held a meeting with the ATO military leadership, the NSDC press service reported.
According to Turchynov, Ukrainian positions in the Mariupol sector were fired with over 3,000 shells and mines over the last week, the NSDC said.
During the meeting with the military, Turchynov discussed the situation on the front and measures to effectively counter the provocations of the Russian-terrorist groups. Moreover, he examined personnel`s maintenance and readiness for actions during the winter period.
According to Turchynov, the situation in the ATO zone remains tense, especially in the Mariupol sector: ”The largest number of provocations and intensity of attacks are carried out near Maryinka, Krasnohorivka, Vodiane and Shyrokyne.”
”Even during the negotiations in the Normandy format, the Russian aggressor did not stop attacks on the Ukrainian positions,” he said, adding that during his visit to Vodiane and on the Ukrainian positions close to Kominternove, which is occupied by the aggressor, the Russian artillery was continuously firing on the Ukrainian positions.”Such actions of the Russian-terrorist groups prove the meanness and blasphemy of Putin`s statements during international negotiations on the ceasefire, and clearly delineate the boundaries of his ”sincere desire to resolve the conflict,” Turchynov said.
He also emphasized that it was impossible to exclude that the peace initiative of the Russian side ”was just a disguise for the intensification of military confrontation.”
”The Ukrainian military are ready for any pace of developments. Ukrainian positions on the contact line are fortified and winterized. All the attempts of the Russian-terrorist groups to break through our defense line are doomed,” Turchynov said.
