“The Kyiv regime is ready to commit any crime”
It is possible to stop the barbaric shelling of residential areas of Donetsk and other cities of the DPR only by pushing Ukrainian troops to a safe distance, from where Kyiv's artillery cannot reach territory of the republic. This was stated by the head of the DPR Denis Pushilin, who on August 30 met with a group of Russian and foreign journalists. The MK correspondent also asked the head of the LPR his questions.
Photo: Sergey Valchenko
According to Pushilin, the enemy continues shelling residential areas, social facilities in Donetsk, Horlivka, Makiivka.
-Zelensky continues to increase the number of war crimes, Pushilin said. – He continues to give orders for the destruction of the civilian population.
In this row, according to him, are the shelling of Kherson and the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant. Kyiv stops at nothing, and this causes serious concern.
– Our units are moving quite successfully, not as fast as we would like, – said Pushilin. – This is the Artemovsk direction, towards Avdeevka, Maryinka, Vugledar. Our task is to move the enemy as quickly as possible and with minimal losses to the distance when he will not be able to strike at the territory of the DPR.
To the clarifying question of how far the enemy should be pushed back, Denis Pushili said:
– At least 70 kilometers, taking into account the weapons that they have at the moment. It's minimum. Now information is coming in that the Americans are ready to supply weapons that can shoot at a distance of 300 kilometers. Accordingly, this will not leave us any chance not to push back to this distance. The stronger, long-range weapons the Ukrainian regime has, the more we will have to push Ukrainian armed formations away from our cities and regions.
Pushilin answered journalists' questions against the backdrop of the Tsentralnaya Hotel, which was recently shelled by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
“There is no military infrastructure around us, this is a hotel where journalists and civilians live, among other things,” Pushilin said. – The shelling had no military expediency. This is a desire on the part of the Ukrainian regime to create panic among the civilian population so that people cannot feel safe.
We are used to barbaric, cynical actions on the part of the Ukrainian regime, and this once again confirms the correctness of our choice, made in 2014.
Pushili recalled that the cities and towns of the DPR did not begin to shell now. They were shelled for all eight years. A large number of dead, wounded, including children.
“Undoubtedly, a special military operation for us, in fact, means a liberation operation and the end of the war,” said the head of the DPR. – A special military operation helped prevent the transition to the active phase, when the Ukrainian regime planned to clean up the territory of the DPR. In this case, the number of victims would be hundreds of thousands.
According to Pushilin, it is necessary to use the capabilities that the allied forces have in order to move the enemy away from the territory of the DPR as quickly as possible.
For now there is a threat of shelling. Because of this, from September 1, it was decided to cancel full-time education in a number of schools and universities.
– Over the past eight years, we have also had a negative experience. The enemy also shelled schools in 2014 when the educational process and even the time of the rulers were going on. We must be guided, first of all, by the safety of children. Therefore, it was decided that we would have a combined approach. Those schools that are at a sufficient or relatively sufficient safety distance will study in person. There are about 250 such schools in the DPR. The rest of the 586 schools, until we push the enemy back, will study remotely. Universities, since they are all located in dangerous locations, the enemy has the opportunity to fire at them while they study remotely. In Donetsk, almost all schools will teach remotely, and only about five schools will teach in person.
Pushilin did not rule out that Kyiv could interfere with the arrival of the IAEA mission to the Zaporozhye NPP, “so that the inspectors do not had the opportunity to stop what is happening now.”
– Now the Ukrainian regime is insane. I wouldn't rule out anything that could go. Of course, this would be an invalid edge.
Pushilin said what is being done to prevent an accident at the Avdeevka Koksokhim plant, which could lead to an environmental disaster. Avdiivka is still under the control of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
– We are closely monitoring and taking all possible actions on our part to prevent a catastrophe associated with an accident or deliberate sabotage by Ukrainian armed forces. At the moment, his work is suspended. Further, serious enough operational work is carried out so that the enemy does not have the opportunity to commit, in fact, a terrorist act. Next, not the first. According to the latest information, the enemy uses the infrastructure that is located at the plant for shelter.
Pushilin told the preparations for the tribunal over neo-Nazi war criminals.
– Almost everything is ready. We rely on the investigating authorities, which will immediately give the go-ahead when they have all the material ready so that the tribunal can be held in accordance with all international standards. It is important for us now to realize that this is very soon.