Donbass have seen nationalist battalions come back. Ukraine broke the truce 35 times in a day. The official stance is they never violate the Minsk agreement. Four settlements came under bombardment. Civilians were in the impact zone.
- Ukrainian television doesn't cover the attacks but they clearly pride themselves on the victims of the Ukrainian army. It's just strange. In the meantime, Poltorak is crying to the world about Russian aggression. Let's take a look at what's going on there.
- Fire!
- The target's been hit.
- It's the Svetlodarsk salient. The military shoot how they destroy the enemies' positions on the other side. One shot and the Ukrainian Corsar anti-tank missile hits the target. According to intelligence sources, two gunmen were killed by the attack, one was injured. The enemy position was wiped out.
- Official representative of the DPR command, Eduard Basurin, is live now.
Eduard, it's been a long time since we saw hundreds of shells hit residential areas just in one day. What's going on?
Eduard Basurin: Good evening to the studio. Zhenya, you're right. Today there have been more than 200 shells, including 121mm, 120mm shells. It's not over yet. This is what's going on. Yesterday, there were 130 shells. This is the escalation we’re having. Children here haven't been running to school for a long time not because they're late but because they're terrified.
- Why is the truce being violated now? Why did the Ukrainian army choose this time in your opinion?
- Olga, there have always been violations, when we had the school truce, the Christmas truce. It happens all the time. But you're absolutely right; nationalists are arriving at the front line. I'm speaking about Azov Battalion. This is the so-called Mariupol Mariupol and Gorlovka sectors. Right Sector soldiers are around Donetsk. After they grew in number, attacks on residential areas became more frequent. We have distressful Vasilyevka. There’s a pumping station that provides water for over a million people. It's offline now after it was hit with a shell. And the Ukrainians can't guarantee a truce so that we can repair it. Our crews can't go repair the line. Also, in the north of Gorlovka, two houses were hit. In distressful Kominternovo, a store burned down. This is what's going on here.
On top of that, they're reinforcing their presence at the entry points. We found out that a regiment has arrived in Novotroitsk, southwest of Donetsk. They're going to run checks on people who enter and leave the territory. This is how the Ukrainian army has occupied Donetsk Oblast.
- Eduard Basurin, Deputy Commander of the Corps of the DPR Ministry of Defense.
