The Ukrainian government forces in the east of Ukraine shoot only the targets surveyed by intelligence and by no means attack civilian areas, said Ukrainian Acting Defense Minister Mykhailo Koval.
“Today we are conducting fire against 120 surveyed targets,” he said on the Ukraina television channel on Tuesday evening.
The information is based on the intelligence, including data obtained from space, Koval said.
“When we have a clear intelligence that this is a paramilitary group, that these are some firearms, then we open fire for effect,” the acting defense minister said.
There has not been a single instance of fire opened against a target which was not surveyed, he said.
“We have a clear order from the president: we have no right to target areas with the civilian population,” Koval said.
With regard to the prospect to impose martial law in east Ukraine, the acting defense minister said: “I expressed my point of view at the National Security and Defense Council meeting yesterday. My colleagues from the defense ministry and I are not supporters of the introduction of martial law, especially in those areas where the antiterrorist operation (ATO) is taking place. The ATO participants (…) have enough authority to accomplish all the tasks.”
