Oleksandr Turchynov from Marinka: Our soldiers are ready to repel any provocations of the enemy

Due to the escalation in the zone of antiterrorist operation and the death of civilians as a result of intense shellings of positions of Ukrainian military with the use of heavy weapons prohibited by the Minsk agreements, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksandr Turchynov arrived at the place of active hostilities near Marinka and Krasnogorivka.

At the frontline, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine held an operative meeting with the military leadership of the sector and the Armed Forces of Ukraine concerning the readiness of our troops to carry out their tasks.

After the meeting, Mr. Turchynov personally checked the readiness of fortification equipment at defensive lines and drew the attention of the leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to the need to strengthen the protection of personnel; the strength and readiness of formations and units; provision of military and special equipment to the soldiers who defend the most difficult areas in the contact line.

While staying in the midst of armed provocations of the Russian hybrid troops, Secretary of the NSDC of Ukraine stressed that recently, "due to the enemy's use of powerful 152-mm artillery, 120-mm mortars and multiple launch rocket systems a very hard situation" has developed in Marinka and Krasnogorivka.

"Russian occupation units strike powerful blows not only on our positions but also on civilian targets, which is a deliberate crime sanctioned by the Kremlin", - he said.

"A systematic destruction of critical infrastructure is taking place in these cities, both civilians and the military are dying and getting injured", - Oleksandr Turchynov noticed adding that dozens of civilian buildings were destroyed, "and a few days ago, in Krasnogorivka, a school was destroyed by shellings, a hospital building and a brick factory were damaged".

"I believe that the international community should make an objective assessment of war crimes of the Russian hybrid troops and their Kremlin curators", - Mr. Turchynov emphasized.

Secretary of the NSDC of Ukraine also underscored that a dangerous situation is also observed along the contact line. "In May, as a result of military provocations, 7 our soldiers were killed and 141 wounded. One of the latest trends, - he said, - is the use of heavy 152-mm self-propelled artillery and multiple-launch rocket systems to hit the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine at a 20 km distance from the delimitation line".

According to him, Russian-terrorist groupings are trying to inflict maximum damage to the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and will work out the technology of precision fire both by advanced and remote positions.

"Moreover, the command of the Russian-terrorist troops, - Oleksandr Turchynov noted, - continues to redeploy soldiers, weapons, ammunition, fuel and lubricants to the occupied territory, strengthens the equipment of forward units and the engineering equipment of firing positions".

Mr. Turchynov also discussed with the leadership of the National Guard and the Security Service of Ukraine the issues of strengthening counter-subversive activities "to prevent the penetration of reconnaissance and subversive groups over the contact line".

He stressed said that recently, the enemy has significantly stepped up all kinds of intelligence, including air, violating the state border of Ukraine.

"In such a way, the operative-tactical level UAV's "Forpost" are launched to the occupied territories from the Russian airfields, they fly in the occupied territory along the contact line, collect information and adjust artillery fire on our positions", - Mr. Turchynov pointed out.

Secretary of the NSDC of Ukraine drew the attention of the ATO leadership to the need of destroying Russian operational-tactical unmanned equipment, which illegally crosses the border staying in the occupied territory in Ukrainian airspace: "We have every reason for this".

"Despite the difficult operational situation, our soldiers are acting adequately to threats and are ready to repel the enemy at any time", - he concluded.