Kiev Seeks to Clear Donbass of Russian-Speaking People, DPR Says, Citing Intercepted Military Plan

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© Sputnik / Сергей Аверин

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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) intelligence obtained a plan for a Ukrainian offensive operation against the republics, Eduard Basurin, a spokesman for the DPR militia said on Saturday.

"The purpose of the Ukrainian offensive operation is to 'cleanse' the territory of the people's republics of the Russian-speaking population, squeeze it into the territory of Russia, and gain control over the entire territory of the people's republics'," Eduard Basurin said.

"During the course of the hostilities, it is planned to encircle and block the large cities of Donetsk, Lugansk, Gorlovka and Alchevsk," Basurin added.

Kiev's planned offensive involves a main strike in the direction of Kramatorsk-Debaltsevo, Basurin said.

"The direction of the main attack of the Ukrainian army is Kramatorsk - Debaltsevo. The strike will be delivered by the forces of the 30th mechanised, 17th tank and 95th air assault brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with the support of the 26th artillery brigade. The next task is to reach Alchevsk - Yenakiyevo. The final task of the group is to reach the Russian border within two days," he said.

According to Basurin, Ukrainian armed forces have concentrated up to 25 mobile special forces groups on the line of contact to organise terrorist attacks.

Kiev's forces have already sharply boosted their fire, so the DPR is forced to respond with fire, too, Basurin said.

On Thursday, the Ukrainian army launched an attack against the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, with Donbass authorities warning that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy could order a full-scale offensive against the republics at any time.

In turn, on Friday, the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics announced the evacuation of their citizens to Russia's Rostov Region over a dramatic escalation of tensions along the line of contact and a possible full-fledged offensive by the Ukrainian army.

The situation on the contact line between Ukraine and the DPR and LPR has worsened in the past days after Kiev intensified shelling of the territories of the republics.

https://sputniknews.com/20220219/kiev-seeks-to-clear-donbass-of-russian-speaking-people-dpr-says-citing-intercepted-military-plan-1093175499.html