Interfax: National Guard commander mentions minor violations of truce on militia’s part
KHARKIV. Sept 6 (Interfax) – Minor violations of the truce in Ukraine on the part of the militia were recorded until 6:45 p.m. Kyiv time on September 5, Ukrainian National Guard Commander Stepan Poltorak said.
“The National Guard is stationed virtually along the entire perimeter of the combat activities. There were minor violations in the Debaltseve area, but the firing stopped at 6:45 p.m., and there have been no violations both, surely, on our part and on the terrorists’ part,” Poltorak told journalists following an oath-taking ceremony for freshmen at the National Guard Academy on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Dmytro Tymchuk, the leader of the Kyiv-based group Informational Resistance close to the Ukrainian security services, said on Facebook on Saturday that the armed opponents of the Ukrainian authorities failed to observe the ceasefire terms.
“After 6:00 p.m. yesterday and until the present moment, the enemy has made several attempts to attack Ukrainian troops’ positions on the Donetsk airport territory, and Ukrainian troops’ positions have also been shelled near the communities of Popasna, Krasnohorivka, Zolote, and Novotroyitske,” Tymchuk said, adding that the militia used mortars and flame-throwers.
He insisted at the same time that the Ukrainian forces were strictly complying with the ceasefire terms and opened fire only in response to attacks on their positions.
“Before 6:00 p.m. yesterday, that is, before the ceasefire, the Ukrainian forces destroyed one tank, six self-propelled artillery guns, two armored personnel carriers, one armored fighting vehicle, seven artillery guns, six mortars, and the enemy’s personnel (most of them near Mariupol),” Tymchuk said.
Interfax could not immediately obtain confirmation of this information from alternative sources.
A contact group for Ukraine signed a ceasefire agreement for eastern Ukraine starting 6:00 p.m. in Minsk on Friday, after which Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko issued an order to stop firing.