31 Aug 2018 21:22

Kyiv denies reports on offensive in Donbas

KYIV. Aug 31 (Interfax) - Ukraine's joint forces in Donbas have remained in their positions along the disengagement line, and Ukrainian servicemen are in full control of the situation, Joint Forces Operation headquarters speaker Vyacheslav Petrovsky told Interfax.

"The situation is under control. The joint forces have remained in their positons," Petrovsky said on Friday.

The adversary fired at the positions of Ukrainian servicemen four times starting from midnight of Thursday, he said.

It was reported earlier that head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic was fatally wounded in an explosion at the Separ cafe in central Donetsk on Friday evening. At least three more people were wounded in the blast. The Ukrainian Security Service said that either Russian special services or militia themselves are behind the assassination.

Russian State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Leonuid Slutsky said that "it is obvious that the Ukrainian authorities are behind this assassination". He later wrote on his Telegram, "Reports are coming already now that Ukrainian army units are being pulled toward the DPR and LPR borders."