The redeployment of military equipment to Donetsk for the "so-called May 9 parade" constitutes direct violation of the Minsk agreements, said Andriy Lysenko, a military spokesperson for the Ukrainian presidential administration.
“The equipment, which continues to arrive in Donetsk for the so-called parade on the Victory Day, is an overt breach of the Minsk agreements, because equipment of this caliber should be removed 30 kilometers away and farther; instead, it is in close proximity of the conflict line, the city of Donetsk being precisely on the border with this line,” he said at a briefing in Kyiv on April 4.
“It is this equipment being gathered under the guise of preparations for the parade, which poses a big threat,” Lysenko said. “Ukraine reports this fact every day to OSCE [Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe] representatives and to the Joint Center for Control and Coordination. If this proves ineffective and this equipment will be used, in that case we will have to render it safe. To that end, we have all resources and the necessary armor and weapons. This is why we warn,” Lysenko said.
The equipment includes: howitzers, 100-millimeter “Rapira” cannons, 122- and 152-millimeter howitzers, large-caliber 120-millimeter mortar launchers, anti-aircraft weapons, 122- and 152-millimeter self-propelled artillery guns, T-72 tanks, and air defense missile systems, the spokesman said.
All this is expected to be used during the parade in Donetsk on May 9, Lysenko said.
