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Over the past 24 hours, 80 ceasefire violations by the armed forces of Russian-backed militants were recorded, 72 of which were performed by the weapons prohibited by the Minsk agreements. As a result of the shelling, one serviceman received moderate shrapnel wounds and is in a medical facility. Ukraine’s Joint Forces Operation reported it.
Over the past day, 22 houses of civilians in Kyiv-controlled territory of Donbas were damaged during heavy shelling on the line of contact.
Read also: Ukraine does not want war; ready to defend itself though, – Foreign Minister
Late night, February 20, Russian occupation forces fired on Luhansk (not controlled by Kyiv) with heavy weapons, Ukraine’s Joint Operation Forces reported.
“Russian-occupying troops carried out another provocation – used heavy weapons while attacking Luhansk,” reads the message.
The Ukrainian side stressed that this was a provocation to accuse the Ukrainian military.
“The Joint Forces Operation Command officially reports that the Joint Forces units are strictly adhering to the Minsk Agreements and international humanitarian law. Therefore, allegations of alleged shelling of settlements by the Armed Forces of Ukraine are outright lies and provocations. the country is an occupier,” the statement said.
“In the absence of any aggressive action by Ukrainian defenders, the invaders themselves blow up infrastructure facilities in the occupied territories and carry out chaotic shelling of settlements,” the message reads.
Russia is trying to create a fake reason to invade Ukraine. That was stated by NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, commenting on reports of shelling on the line of contact. This is a blatant attempt by the Russian government, a typical Kremlin strategy.
As reported February 20, over the past day, 134 units of military equipment were found in the temporarily occupied territories of Luhansk and Donetsk regions, deployed in violation of the Minsk agreements.
Read also: Every fifth Ukrainian estimates probability of Putin’s invasion as high, – poll
February 17, the situation in the Donbas conflict area worsened after a relative lull. As reported earlier, Russia-backed militants shelled a number of civilian facilities, including a school and a kindergarten.
Find out more details on the attacks here.
Ukrainian intelligence estimates the presence of more than 140,000 troops in the border regions, while experts estimate that 175,000 are needed for an invasion. Already US intelligence says that an eventual attack on the neighboring country by Russia would occur through Crimea and Belarus.
