Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak says that the treat that battle action may resume in Ukraine remains extremely high, according to an UNIAN correspondent.
”Since the moment when the Russian troops crossed the border of Ukraine in 2014, the threat of battle action remains extremely high. Therefore we are getting prepared, doing our utmost to defend our territorial integrity,” Poltorak told reporters, answering a question about the current degree of the threat of war.
Therefore, soldiers are being trained at special centers and military ranges, he said.
In his words, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko plans to transfer over 150 pieces of military hardware to the Ukrainian army in the town of Chuhuyiv on August 23, and ”this equipment will immediately be tested in drills and then sent to the front.”
”Equipment after the military parade [to be held in Kyiv on Independence Day on August 24] will also be sent to the army to complete equipment of military units and divisions,” he said.
As UNIAN reported, Poroshenko announced on August 18 that the probability of escalation in Donbas remains high, but the Armed Forces of Ukraine are ready to repel the enemy.
Yet the president said that he does not rule out ”a full-scale incursion by Russia in all the directions.”
”We are ready, our armed forces [are ready] to repulse the enemy both in the east of our Ukraine, where the enemy has occupied Donbas, and along the administrative border with Crimea,” he added.
