"The armed conflict in Donbas is not a frozen one. Every day, people die and suffer in the east of the country. The direct supervision of the militants' actions is provided by the Russian military," the minister wrote on Facebook.
"Another example is the recent detention of Viktor Ageyev, the Russian contracted soldier earlier captured by Ukrainian forces in Luhansk region. Russian military drills under the codename "Zapad" (West) are causing concern. We do not exclude the possibility of provocations by the Russian Federation under far-fetched pretexts. Under such conditions, Ukraine is forced to keep up its defenses," he said.
Poltorak also noted the constructive work of the expert group and U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker. He also stressed that the international community should assess fairly and objectively the events in eastern Ukraine, and support it in its striving to uphold territorial integrity and sovereignty.
