DONETSK (Sputnik) – Ukrainian government forces are planning to incite violence in the strategic southeast Ukrainian town of Mariupol under the guise of a patriotic rally, the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic defense spokesman said Sunday.
"To this end, activists with posters are being transported from Kherson, Odessa and Mykolaiv disguised as local residents," DPR Deputy Defense Minister Eduard Basurin told reporters.
Basurin said he suspected the active movement of the Ukrainian armed forces’ heavy weaponry would allow Kiev to falsely accuse DPR militias of carrying out artillery attacks.
On Friday, the defense official said DPR intelligence continued to record the advance of Kiev’s heavy weaponry to the warring sides’ line of contact in Donbas in violation of a February ceasefire deal.
Late in July, eastern Ukrainian militias and Kiev forces announced the withdrawal of less than 100mm caliber weapons as part of a recent agreement among the leaders of the so-called Normandy quartet.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said the agreement between Kiev, Moscow, Paris and Berlin would be signed by Monday, August 3 and implemented within 10 days.
