"Since the beginning of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) on April 7, 2014, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov on April 24 announced military exercises in areas bordering with Donetsk and Luhansk regions, where heavy military equipment and 30,000-40,000 thousand of Russian troops had been massed up," he said.
Matios also said that from August 8 to August 23, 2014, under the orders of Gerasimov, the ATO positions in the direction of Saur-Mohyla - Uspenka - Amvrosiyivka were systematically attacked with Grad, Smerch and Uragan multiple rocket launchers from the territory of the Russian Federation, and this has been confirmed by the evidence.
Read alsoOSCE not able to verify withdrawalTo deter the ATO forces in the direction of the town of Ilovaisk and to prevent them from encircling Donetsk, the General Staff of the Russian Federation has massed up military equipment, weapons and ammunition near the towns of Ilovaisk, Shakhtarsk, Torez and Snizhne in Donetsk region, according to Matios.
The military official added that, for the same purpose, it was decided to unleash and conduct an aggressive war against Ukraine by invading its territory with individual military units of the Russian Armed Forces and deploying them near Ilovaisk for military support of terrorists (the order was given on August 24 and implemented by three battalion task forces, amounting to more than 3,500 troops, about 60 tanks, 320 combat vehicles, and 60 guns. As a result of this invasion, the Ukrainian troops were surrounded by the units of the Russian Armed Forces, and while attempting to break through [the encirclement] on August 29, they were ambushed and were fired upon by the units of the Russian Armed Forces and illegal armed groups.
