Lugansk: Kiev Training Special Troops to Attack Breakaway Regions, Deploys Drones

LUGANSK (Sputnik) - Ukrainian armed forces continue to train special troops for a quick deployment to the rear of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People's Republic and have begun to actively deploy drones at the line of contact in Donbass, a Lugansk spokesman said on Sunday.

Lugansk has warned that Kiev plans to use warplanes in the event of an offensive in the Donbass region, while Donetsk has reported that 150,000 Ukrainian troops have been amassed at the line of contact.

"As we have reported earlier, units of the 79th Air Assault Brigade of the Ukrainian armed forces are being prepared for combat as a tactical airborne assault force to be deployed to the rear areas of the republic", the spokesman said.

Additionally, the Ukrainian forces have increased aerial reconnaissance using drones near the settlements of Sizoye and Bolotnoye, which are controlled by Kiev in Donbass in violation of the Minsk agreements, the spokesman noted.

Earlier in the day, Rodion Miroshnik, an envoy for the self-proclaimed Lugansk People's Republic (LPR) in the Donbass region, said that the withdrawal of EU, UK, and US representatives from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe's (OSCE) special monitoring mission in Ukraine (SMM) under the pretext of insecurity would precede a large-scale provocation by Ukraine.

Denis Pushilin, the head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), which together with the LPR makes up Donbass, said on Saturday that US representatives in the OSCE SMM had already "packed their bags", and were ready to leave at any moment. He also said that their departure would mean that a Western-sponsored Ukrainian provocation is being plotted.

The conflict in Donbass between Ukraine's government and the breakaway Donetsk and Lugansk republics has been going on since 2014. The Minsk agreements, designed to find a political resolution to the conflict, were negotiated by the leaders of France, Germany, Russia, and Ukraine — the Normandy group — in February 2015. However, the agreement has not been observed so far, and sporadic clashes continue. Moscow has repeatedly stated that Kiev is not fulfilling the Minsk agreements and is delaying negotiations to resolve the conflict.

In the past few months, the West and Ukraine have accused Russia of a troop buildup near the Ukrainian border in alleged preparation for an "invasion", which, as was claimed by the West could begin with a Russian "provocation".

Moscow has denied these accusations, repeatedly stating that it is not threatening anyone and at the same time expressing strong concerns over NATO's military activity near Russia's borders, which it deems a threat to its national security.