MSOCOW. Jan 22 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian Armed Forces are building up their presence in Donbas, and the geography of the contact line in the area of fighting is being changed in a unilateral manner, Russia's Permanent Representative to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Alexander Lukashevich, has said.
"Back at the end of last year, the Special Monitoring Mission (OSCE SMM) drew attention to Ukrainian soldiers appearing in the localities of Pavlopil, Pishchevik and Zaitzeve, which had not been taken by any side before. In effect, it was a unilateral change of the geography of the contact line in Donbas. Shelling of militia positions began," Lukashevich said in his speech at an OSCE session in Vienna. The text of the speech was published on the Russian Foreign Ministry's website.
The Russian envoy also noted the Ukrainian Armed Forces had rotated their units in Donbas and had replaced out-of-order military hardware by new weaponry.