Situation in the ATO zone
On the night of September 28th, 12 Ukrainian prisoners-of-war were freed, in accordance with the execution of the Ukrainian President’s peace plan. Work to free the hostages does not stop for a single our, and maximum effort is being made for our servicemen to be able to return to their families as soon as possible.
Measures to reinforce Mariupol’s defense system continue. The situation in the city is stable. ATO forces ensure its security and defense with active support on part of the citizens.
Meanwhile, the terrorists, despite the ceasefire agreements reached in Minsk, continue attacking ATO positions and residential areas using sniper weaponry, mine launchers, rifles and reactive artillery.
The terrorists are most active near Donetsk airport, as well as near the towns of Debaltseve and Shchastya. In particular, another attempt to take the airport by storm began two hours ago. Our servicemen prevented the storming from happening, the terrorists suffered losses. At 10:50 a.m. the mercenaries began an artillery attack on the locality of Avdiyivka. The locality of Talakivka, near Mariupol, was subject to numerous terrorist attacks throughout the day.
There have been no casualties among our servicemen in the past 24 hours, three servicemen have been wounded.
Russian mercenaries continue active intelligence work on border regiments and spying on ATO positions. In particular, yesterday, near the locality of Shevchenko in Donetsk oblast, Ukrainian border servicemen detected a hidden surveillance point on the border regiment route. Also, near the localities of Talakivka, Sartana, Hnutove in Donetsk oblast, the border servicemen impeded the work of groups which moved around by car and gathered information on ATO positions.
There has been no fire contact with the terrorists near the border, neither had there been any violations of the airspace in the past 24 hours.
However, Russian soldiers continue airborne intelligence along the Ukraine-Russia border. Yesterday, around 2 p.m., the Ukrainian servicemen detected two Russian military Mi-8 helicopters along the border, across from the units of border control regiments Stanychno-Luhanske and Krasna Talivka.
Relocation of Russian troops continues in the north of the Crimean peninsula. In particular, across from the checkpoint Chongar, a field camps has been detected with about 300 personnel.
Ukrainian border servicemen also detected reinforcements of Russia’s military groups and relocation of military equipment. A railway echelon including 30 railway platforms with military equipment (up to 30 BMP’s, BMD’s and cargo vehicles) arrived at the railway station of Dzhankoy from Kerch.
The Ukrainian National Guard Training Center in the town of Zolochiv carried out nighttime training on machine gun, KPVT (large-caliber Vladimirov anti-tank machine gun) and PKT (Kalashnikov anti-tank machine gun) fire. 21 BTR, BRDM crews arrived for training, consisting of 63 servicemen, 27 of which were mobilized volunteers from various regions of Ukraine. After the training, it was determined that all the crews are ready to carry out military missions in the ATO zone.
Situation in conflict zone localities
According to operative data, the leadership of ‘LNR’terrorist organization is seeking an opportunity to reroute the gas distribution network in the oblast to import gas from Russia, thus switching off the districts under Ukrainian control.
While losing support of the population, the mercenaries are trying to fill their ranks by force. In Alchevsk, one of the illegal armed formations declared general mobilization. Men between 18 and 50 years of age are subject to forced mobilization. Also, starting today, the mercenaries are declaring ‘martial law’in the city. A ‘curfew’will be in effect between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. in Alchevsk.
As of September 27, because of mercenary attacks and bad weather, there is absolutely or partially no electricity in 141 localities of Donetks oblast. Electricity experts continue renovations, they managed to reestablish electricity supplies to 50 localities.
Reaction of the global community to the events in Ukraine
In a meeting with the Head of the Russian MFA on Saturday, UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon personally asked Lavrov to influence the mercenaries. Russia has to use all opportunities of its influence on the mercenaries in the east of Ukraine to ensure full-fledged and long-lasting ceasefire. Ban Ki-moon promised to continue dialogue with world leaders in order to regulate the crisis in Ukraine by peaceful means.
Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs Urmas Paet stated that Estonia will issue visas to people who in Ukraine’s conflict zones and who want to visit their families in Estonia following a simplified procedure.
