Civilians' position part of problem in southeast Ukraine - security chief
KYIV. May 6 (Interfax) - The head of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU), Valentyn Nalyvaichenko, has said that the situation in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions remains complex because of the position of the civilian population of these regions.
"Today we made a clear report in parliament that the situation in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions is very serious because their civilian population, the people who live there, are under serious influences and do not entirely trust the efforts of the law enforcement authorities, the SBU and the Defense Ministry, which, under the decision by the National Security and Defense Council, are aimed exclusively at eliminating terrorists," Nalyvaichenko said at a briefing after a closed-doors parliamentary session on Tuesday.
All hostilities as part the security operation are conducted with maximum restraint to avoid civilian deaths, he added.
"We also reported to the parliament that up to 30 heavily armed militants have been eliminated during the antiterrorist operation over the last few days," Nalyvaichenko said.
The Ukrainian security forces have sustained losses too, said the SBU chief, without specifying their number.
For his part, Acting Defense Minister Mykhailo Koval said at the briefing that the slow pace of the security operation in the eastern Ukrainian region is due to the intention to prevent deaths among civilians.
"One ambassador from a Central European country asked me why the antiterrorist operation has been so slow. I replied to his that we have two possible scenarios," Koval said.
The first one involves use of heavy artillery, including rockets, "and mixing this populated area with the ground, putting a yellow-blue flag and reporting about the mission being accomplished," the acting minister said.
"The second scenario, which is precisely what we are doing now, is to gradually besiege and eliminate saboteurs and terrorists and prevent civilians from being dragged into the hostilities," Koval said.
"I asked the diplomat which scenario they would chose, and he said: I choose yours, the Ukrainian scenario. So you have to understand that those engaged in the antiterrorist operation are working precisely according to this scenario," Koval said.