The Kiev officials continue to ignore all our attempts to counter further escalation of the conflict and loss of life on both sides of the contact line.
On May 3, a defender of the Republic, Senior Lieutenant Aleksey Siverin, was killed by sniper fire near the village of Kominternovo. We express our deepest condolences to the relatives and friends of the victim of the Ukrainian aggression.
Every day we register AFU’s violating the ceasefire regime, deploying weapons and military equipment near residential buildings in the Ukraine-controlled territory, and shelling towns and districts of the Republic with mortars, grenade launchers, large-calibre machine guns, and small arms.
Today, the situation is being exacerbated by the fact that the Ukrainian army is increasingly focusing on terrorist and subversive means of waging war against the Donbass Republics. While distracting the world community with their statements of commitment to the Minsk agreements, Kiev officials are condoning the actions of war criminals who give orders to open sniper fire on our positions.
We insist that Ukraine bring those responsible for the ceasefire violations to justice. The lawlessness and arbitrariness being committed at the line of contact by members of Ukrainian armed formations must be stopped.
We have to note that today the Ukrainian authorities are demonstrating not only their inability to agree, but also their inability to resolve the conflict peacefully, because Zelensky is incapable of controlling his militants. If this is not curbed, the situation could have dire consequences — and not at the level of the Donbass Republics and Ukrainian-controlled territories alone.
Denis Pushilin,
Head of the Donetsk People’s Republic
