DONETSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 31st October, 2018) Ukrainian security forces are not preparing for any large-scale hostilities in Donbas region, but there is a high probability of provocations by them before the the elections of leaders and parliamentarians in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), Denis Sinenkov, head of the DPR people's militia department, said on Wednesday.
Elections of the heads and parliamentarians of the self-proclaimed DPR and Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) are planned to be held on November 11. Kiev has already announced that it does not recognize the elections.
"There are no signs of direct preparation by Ukrainian forces for active large-scale hostilities, but there is a high probability of provocative actions to disrupt the elections of the head of the Donetsk [People's] Republic," Sinenkov said at a meeting of DPR acting head Denis Pushilin with military personnel.
The conflict in Donbas started in 2014, when Ukrainian authorities launched a military operation against the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics that refused to recognize the new government in Kiev, which came to power after what they considered to be a coup. In February 2015, the two sides signed the Minsk peace accords, brokered by Russia, France and Germany, to end the hostilities in the region. Despite this, however, the situation has remained tense, with both parties accusing each other of ceasefire violations.
