Lugansk People's Republic Never Registered Any Bayraktar Drones, LPR Leader Says

LUGANSK (Sputnik) - The self-proclaimed Lugansk People's Republic (LPR) never registered Kiev using a Turkish Bayraktar drone during the Donbass conflict, LPR leader Leonid Pasechnik told Sputnik.

Late last month, the Ukrainian General Staff claimed that the military destroyed an enemy howitzer with a guided bomb launched via a Bayraktar strike drone in southeaster Ukraine (Donbass). Under the Minsk agreements, only the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe's (OSCE) mission is allowed to use drones in Donbass.

"The LPR services have never registered the use of Turkish Bayraktar drones by Ukraine in the sky over the republic. But there were other Ukrainian UAVs that the enemy used for reconnaissance, adjustments, and even for striking residential areas in settlements near the contact line. We have peaceful civilians who were killed by Ukrainian drone raids", Pasechnik said.

The official further remarked that Kiev's statements regarding the use of Turkish Bayraktar drones in southeastern Ukraine (Donbass) do not mean war and are part of politics demonstrating a clear disregard for generally accepted norms.

"I believe that the deliberate statements made by the Kiev forces about the use of Bayraktar drones do not mean war or military operations, it's politics and a demonstrative disregard for generally accepted norms, demonstrative violation of the measures aimed and strengthening the ceasefire signed by both parties [to the Donbass conflict]", Pasechnik said.

Earlier this month, the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic's (DPR) Foreign Minister Natalya Nikonorova told Sputnik that the Ukrainian military has used Bayraktar drones exclusively for "reconnaissance" but "these drones never crossed the contact line" in Donbass.

The Ukrainian General Staff said this month that Kiev had started using the Bayraktar strike drone in the eastern region of Donbass. According to Chief of the Ukrainian General Staff Serhiy Shaptala, Kiev is planning to purchase more Turkish-made drones.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that the US basically supported the use of Bayraktar drones in Ukraine, although it is banned under the Minsk agreements, while Europe's reaction was noncommittal.