Russia says main goal of Ukraine operation is liberation of Donbass

Marina Kortunova
Press TV, Luhansk

For eight years, Donbass, a region of Eastern Ukraine that did not accept the results of the Kiev coup in 2014 has been under frequent shelling from national battalions and the armed forces of Ukraine.

Residents of Donbass called it a war crime against the people and from that moment Ukraine ceased to be a state in their eyes. According to Russian investigators, the actions of the Ukrainian military led to the deaths of more than 2,600 civilians, while more than 5,500 people were injured. 2,200 civilian infrastructure facilities were also destroyed.

This is a town school of the sadly known town of Gorlovka in the Donbass region which is being shelled regularly.

The last time it was shelled by Ukrainian artillery on 24 February. The teachers died on the spot. But one of the heaviest recent shellings hushed up by the Western media happened on March 14 in Donetsk.

The Ukrainian military hit the center of the city with a Tochka-U tactical missile equipped with a cluster warhead. The rocket was shot down, but due to the fall of debris 23 people died and 18 were injured.

The emotional answer of the head of the LPR to Press TV about holding a referendum on joining Russia caused a wide response. Later he explained that the main task facing the leadership of the LPR now is the completion of hostilities. According to him, the battalions of Ukrainian nationalists are responsible for the murder, torture, robbery and rape of civilians in Donbass.

Most of them are relied on the experience of the commanders of the SS division during World War II and here in the settlement of Trekhizbenka still terrified, people did not believe in liberation and whispered about how they were bullied and subjected to violence.

Here, the LPR servicemen found torture chambers with Nazi symbols hung up and the remains of those who simply disappeared from the village one day without a trace. The documents and an armaments depot were left by terrorist organization "Right Sector".

The LDPR military and People's Militia say they collected documents about cases of cruelty against the population of Donbass and people from other regions of Ukraine. The documents include photos of people killed by bombing, runic symbols and signs of national battalions, facts of war crimes against humanity, and the positions of battalions in settlements with caches of weapons of mass destruction.

Numerous residents of the recently liberated Volnovakha told Press TV that when the Russians forces entered their town, Ukrainian batallions left all the civilian property destroyed. Residents of the city were forbidden to evacuate and looting had begun.

In Luhansk, servicemen showed tanks and heavy weapons left by Ukrainian militants in the liberated cities and towns. All captured grenade launchers and ammunition, armored personnel carriers, tanks and grenade launchers are productions of the UK, Turkey and NATO countries.

Donbass leaders and citizens emphasize that the ongoing military operation of Russia was only a response to the criminal acts of Kiev against Donbass as a timely and preemptive measure.

Today, Moscow says it has documents with proof that Kiev was preparing a large-scale attack and intended to destroy the DNR and LNR.

Russia says its aim over the past month has been to target Ukrainian military infrastructure to prevent the enemy from regrouping and reinforcing its presence in the Donbas. It says it will press ahead with the strategy until the whole region is liberated.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk