The head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, Denis Pushilin, said that in the coming days he would issue a decree on the destruction of the fortifications of the Ukrainian army on the contact line in Donbass.

The corresponding statement was published on the official website of the head of the DPR.

The document says that during the talks in Minsk and through the coordination mechanism, representatives of the DPR repeatedly pointed out to the Ukrainian side the need to bury the trenches dug after July 22, 2020, and not to arrange further provocations aimed at disrupting the truce.

The head of the DPR stressed that the republic has the right to eliminate these violations on its own, but it wants to avoid situations of forced use of fire.

“The Ukrainian side ignored our reasonable demands.

I expected yesterday to receive from the Joint Center for Control and Coordination (JCCC) a document stating that the violations were eliminated by the Ukrainian side, or at least work is underway to eliminate them.

I have not received such a document, ”the statement reads.

Denis Pushilin stressed that in this regard, he decided to issue an order to open fire on illegally erected engineering structures in the area of ​​the settlement of Shuma.

The document notes that the official notification of this decision will be sent by representatives of the DPR to the Contact Group, and the detailed coordinates of the location of the operation will be communicated to the Ukrainian side through the JCCC.

“I call on the Ukrainian side to ensure the absence of personnel in the specified area from 08:00 on September 7, 2020.

We don't need human sacrifice.

We don't need to break the truce.

We only want to comply with the agreements reached, ”the DPR head said in a statement.

Shaky agreements

Recall that in July, representatives of the trilateral contact group in Minsk agreed on the entry into force of additional measures to monitor compliance with the indefinite ceasefire, which was announced in 2019.

Boris Gryzlov, the plenipotentiary representative of Russia at the talks in Minsk, stressed that the agreement was reached despite Kiev's resistance.

  • Armed forces of the DPR

  • Reuters

  • © Alexander Ermochenko

“After almost five months of resistance, the Ukrainian side found the courage to agree on the ceasefire measures that Donetsk and Lugansk have repeatedly proposed,” Gryzlov told reporters.

In turn, the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a statement, which said that this "breakthrough in the Minsk process" was made possible thanks to "the effective work of the Ukrainian delegation with the support of our international partners in Berlin and Paris."

Measures to ensure a ceasefire between Kiev and the unrecognized republics came into force on 27 July.

According to the document signed by both sides, until a complete comprehensive settlement of the conflict, a complete ban is announced on firing, placing weapons and equipment in and near settlements, as well as conducting offensive and reconnaissance and sabotage actions.

It also provides for disciplinary liability for violation of the ceasefire.

The militias of the self-proclaimed republics and the Ukrainian army are obliged to resolve controversial incidents through a coordination mechanism to respond to ceasefire violations with the assistance of the JCCC.

However, already on August 3, the DPR office in the JCCC said that the Ukrainian side was blocking the work of the mechanism for coordinating, monitoring and observing the current ceasefire regime in Donbass.

"Despite some progress that was observed after the extraordinary meeting of the working group on security issues on July 28, when the parties exchanged contacts of persons authorized to act as participants in the coordination mechanism, and agreed on a scheme of interaction, the Ukrainian side is blocking the implementation of the mechanism in practice," in the message of the representative office of the DPR.

The statement clarified that the Ukrainian side ignores all messages and calls from representatives of the DPR for two days, which "can lead to irreparable consequences, including the resumption of escalation."

Then, on August 10, information appeared that the Ukrainian military was violating the ceasefire agreement.

“Taking advantage of the indefinite ceasefire, the enemy continues to violate the agreements reached by equipping new positions in the area of ​​the Novgorodskoye settlement,” said a representative of the DPR People's Militia.

Minsk problem

It is worth noting that even before the entry into force of additional measures to monitor compliance with the indefinite ceasefire, Vladimir Zelensky said on July 23 that he expects to sign an agreement on a complete and comprehensive ceasefire in Donbass by the leaders of the Normandy Four countries.

From the point of view of the Ukrainian leader, this will raise the status of the agreements reached and increase the chances of their observance.

At the same time, Zelensky returned to the topic of detailed decoding of each clause of the Minsk agreements in order to determine which of them Ukraine can fulfill.

  • Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a visit to the contact line in Donbass

  • © Gleb Garanich / Reuters

“We want to decipher each point in Minsk, then we know or will see whether we are able to do it or not, how we will do it, who is responsible,” the Ukrainian leader said during a working visit to Stanytsia Luhanska together with his Swiss colleague Simonetta Sommaruga.

The next meeting of the Normandy Four was announced by the President of Ukraine on August 28, first at the level of political advisers and then heads of state, but it was canceled - the official reason was the impossibility of participation in the meeting of a representative of France.

Kiev has no particular desire to fulfill the clauses of the Minsk Agreements, and its western partners are satisfied with the state of a sluggish conflict, Ukrainian political scientist and economist Alexander Dudchak said in an interview with RT.

"The Ukrainian authorities will continue to sabotage the implementation of the agreements, because if a lasting peace is established in accordance with the Minsk agreements, then it will be necessary to move forward on its points, restore the destroyed, and in parallel, questions will arise who is to blame for this destruction and the death of civilians," - the expert emphasized.

Commenting on the DPR's intention to destroy the structures of the Ukrainian army on the line of contact, Oleksandr Dudchak noted that the actions of Kiev and its forces do not contribute to mutual trust in the negotiation groups in Minsk and the desire of the Normandy format participants to meet.

“Now the Ukrainian side is using the ceasefire solely to strengthen its positions on the front line, to regroup its forces, and not to plan a peaceful life together.

This action once again demonstrates that Ukraine is not ready for peace, but for the continuation of hostilities, "the political scientist said in an interview with RT.

The head of the Center for Systems Analysis and Forecasting Rostislav Ishchenko, in turn, noted that the Ukrainian side is not going to go on the offensive, however, building new defensive structures in the line of fire, it will continue to provoke a violation of the ceasefire in order to demonstrate the lack of intentions to fulfill the Minsk agreements ...

“The Ukrainian side will fulfill the Minsk agreements in the event that the government completely changes in Kiev, the people who are involved in Ukrainian politics change, which is physically impossible.

Or if the current Ukrainian state disappears and something else appears in its place.

In the form in which Ukraine is today, and with those politicians, the country will never change its previously chosen course, ”the political scientist concluded.