DONETSK. Dec 14 (Interfax) - Military self-defense groups have been set up, and all military units have been put on alert in Donbas because of the threat of a Ukrainian offensive, Eduard Basurin, a deputy commander of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) forces, said on Friday.
"Despite the threat of a possible offensive, our units are complying with all the provisions of the Minsk Package of Measures and are prepared to rebuff an attack. The enemy won't move into our land, not even by a meter. All military units have been put on alert," Basurin said at a news briefing.
DPR units have now been brought up to full strength and provided with the necessary weapons, hardware, and ammunition, he said.
"All our positions have been re-equipped in the engineering sense in such a way that it is safe to stay there, even if several 152mm artillery projectiles hit them. Artillery units are ready to deploy to prepared positions and fire at the attacking enemy," he said.
Critical infrastructure in the DPR has been reinforced with air defense systems, Basurin said. Measures have been taken to deconcentrate stocks of materiel and set up weapons and ammunition depots around the DPR to offer total resistance, he said.
"We express special gratitude to the citizens of our republic who, following the call of their hearts, went to Novoazovsk, Telmanove, Komsomolske, and Starobesheve and formed people's self-defense units there so that, when the Ukrainian Armed Forces launch their aggression, they can oppose the movement of Ukrainian armored vehicles along their routes and the illegal deployment of a limited NATO contingent under the guise of peacekeepers," he said.
The DPR people's militia said earlier that the Ukrainian Armed Forces were preparing to launch an offensive in the south of the self-proclaimed republic.