Ministry of Defense of Ukraine: Russia crossed the border 10 Grad installations

The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has information about 10 Russian plants "Grad" in the east of the country. This was announced in the Verkhovna Rada by the acting Minister Mikhail Koval, reports League. One of the installations is captured, six more are tracked.

"We had operational information that 10 Grad combat vehicles crossed the state border of Ukraine. One vehicle was captured and destroyed. In this machine, we discovered the evidence base of its belonging to the 18th motorized rifle brigade of the Southern Military District of the Russian Federation, the minister said. - We have now detected six such vehicles. We keep them in the field of vision."

Only two cases of opening of fire with these installations were recorded - according to the village of Belopolie and in Ambrosievka, Koval noted. According to him, three T-64 tanks of the Russian army without numbers were identified. Two of them are damaged by the Ukrainian military, one is evacuated by the enemy. In addition, militants use two tanks of the Second World War IS-2. Previously, they stood on pedestals as monuments, only one can move.

“Last week, we completely closed the possibility of receiving from the territory of the Russian Federation any armored vehicles into the territory of Ukraine,” Koval emphasized. To the question from the hall about information regarding today's penetration of heavy equipment from Russia from the territory of Russia, the minister did not respond.

Meanwhile, a video recording of the passage of the Gorlovka column from two T-64 tanks, two armored personnel carriers and three KamAZs was published. Eyewitnesses saw the same column of military equipment first in Lugansk, and then in Alchevsk in the Lugansk region.

At the same time, the representative of the NSDC information center Vladimir Chepova at a briefing on Friday denied reports of the border completely overlap, the island reports . “If all the borders were controlled by our troops, then we would give this news the first and this would be a stage of victory and transition to a clear plan that the president announced. So far, this is not there,” he said. Chepova did not refute, but did not confirm the information that was common in social networks about the alleged landing of Russian paratroopers in the anti -terrorist operation zone and in the Kharkov region.

Earlier on Friday, the press secretary of the Russian president Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow was surprised by statements about the concentration of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine, RIA Novosti reports. These measures are designed to strengthen the protection of the state border, and the decision was made several weeks ago.

Russia does not increase troops on the border with Ukraine, said Presidential Assistant Yuri Ushakov. According to him, border guards receive only "slight reinforcements." “There is no increase there, there is a certain saturation of the border factor, since the situation on the border bothers us,” he said.

Earlier on Friday, the speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, Alexander Turchinov, said that the Ukrainian military and border guards actually completed the operation to block the border with Russia . At the same time, he referred to the morning conversation with the officials of the Ministry of Defense. According to the speaker, the Ukrainian troops approached the village of Izvarino in the Lugansk region, taking the last point on the border with Russia.

On Thursday evening, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko already held the second telephone conversations with Vladimir Putin this week. The Ukrainian leader identified the key positions of his peaceful plan and the schedule of its implementation. He also noted the need to free hostages and establish effective control on the border between Ukraine and Russia. Poroshenko emphasized that he was counting on a ceasefire and support for his peaceful plan. As reported on the website of the President of Ukraine, Putin expressed support for Poroshenko’s initiatives.

On Thursday, the State Border Service of Ukraine said that units of the Armed Forces of Russia continued to arrive at the border. Near the border, the Russian military equip firing positions and mask the equipment . They explain their actions by the fact that these measures are supposedly carried out to "ensure the security of the border due to its violation by the Ukrainian military."

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogg Rasmussen confirmed the new cluster of Russian troops along the border with Ukraine. “If they were deployed to block the border and stop the flow of weapons to Ukraine, it would be good, but we don’t see it, so this is a step back,” he said.