Photo from the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine

Head of the Public Relations Department of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Bohdan Senyk has said the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine continues preparations at various levels for ending the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) and will switch to the Joint Forces Operation in Donbas from April 30.

"The plan has been approved, there is the president's decision, which will become the starting point," he said, commenting on the forthcoming reformatting of the ATO into the Joint Forces Operation in Donbas.

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"As soon as there is a document. The president has pre-announced the transition from the ATO to the Joint Forces Operation on April 30, and the commander of the Joint Forces [Serhiy Nayev] told about that in one of his interviews, so we also expect a planned transition. There will be appropriate regulation, and then we will talk about this," Senyk added.

"Of course, preparations are under way at all levels for the fulfillment of assigned tasks... The General Staff will provide strategic guidance for the future operation," he said.

In turn, the Defense Ministry confirmed "military administration's staff" had already been trained, they would carry out tasks in Donbas after the end of the Anti-Terrorist Operation.

As UNIAN reported earlier, the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament on January 18 passed draft law No. 7163 on special aspects of state policy to ensure Ukraine's state sovereignty in temporarily occupied areas in Donetsk and Luhansk regions (the so-called Donbas reintegration bill).

On March 16, Poroshenko announced the end of the ATO and further transition to the Operation of Joint Forces.

He also appointed Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Lt. Gen Serhiy Nayev to the newly created post of Ukraine's Commander of the Joint Forces.