You're reading: Ukrainian Armed Forces’ General Staff warns US Air Force of risks of Russian invasion

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has reassured Commander of U.S. Air Forces Europe General Frank Gorenc that Ukrainian military forces have not been involved in shelling peaceful civilian areas and also spoken about the risk of a full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

“Sometimes, to save the lives and health of Ukrainian military [personnel] and local citizens in case of breaches of the Minsk agreements by militants, we must counter-attack by fire, but even in this situation we never fire at populated areas as there may be Ukrainian civilians. Currently, we are in full control of the situation, the force groups in the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) zone allow [Ukraine] to respond adequately to changes in the situation,” First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Colonel General Hennadiy Vorobyev said during his meeting with Gorenc in Kyiv, the press service of the General Staff reported on its Facebook page.

“The probability of a full-scale invasion by the Armed Forces of Russia is very high,” Vorobyev added.

He also expressed gratitude on behalf of Ukraine for constructive cooperation with the U.S., in particular, for experience in military training and technical assistance for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

In turn, Gorenc spoke about the importance of this visit to fully understand the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine, and to develop closer military cooperation between America and Ukraine.

“Recently, we have completed the military operation in Afghanistan, during which NATO developed a complex of new methods for different [military] forces. The main difference is that we had full control of the sky there, thus your experience in the ATO is very important for us,” Gorenc said.

Gorenc promised “to speak with his direct commander on practical providing military and technical assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and about an exchange of experience in training for different subunits,” General Staff spokesman Oleksiy Mazepa said on Channel 112 on Ukrainian TV.