Kremlin Spokesman Peskov Refutes Reports of His Visit to Lugansk

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refuted media reports Tuesday alleging he visited the city of Lugansk, located in the crisis-torn Donbass region of Ukraine.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Monday, Ukrainian OstroV media outlet reported about Peskov's alleged visit to Lugansk citing a source in one of Ukraine's secret services.

"It is yet another hoax, pay no attention to it," Peskov told reporters answering a related question.

The city of Lugansk is an administrative center of the self-proclaimed people's republic of Lugansk (LPR). The LPR declared independence from Ukraine in 2014 following the shift of power in Kiev as a result of what many considered to be a coup. Kiev has since been conducting a military operation, encountering stiff local resistance.

In February 2015, Kiev forces and Donbass independence supporters signed a peace agreement in the Belarusian capital of Minsk. The deal stipulates a full ceasefire, weapons withdrawal from the line of contact in Donbass, as well as constitutional reforms that would give a special status to the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics. Despite the agreement brokered by the Normandy Four states, the ceasefire regime is regularly violated, with both sides accusing each other of multiple breaches, undermining the terms of the accord.