Message about Ukraine’s preparation to march on Donbas is misinformation – Khomchak

The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Colonel-General Ruslan Khomchak, issued a statement on the Russian Federation's aggressive actions in the information space, explaining that Russia, using intimidation and blackmail of military force, is artificially aggravating the situation to achieve its own geostrategic goals.

The Ukrainska Pravda reports, citing a statement issued by the Ministry of Defense.

The reports spread by the aggressor state Russian Federation about the alleged "preparation of Ukraine for the offensive in Donbas" are untrue and part of a purposeful disinformation campaign. This campaign aims to discredit Ukraine in the international arena, sow panic among the population of the temporarily occupied territories, change the information agenda to promote the Kremlin's geostrategic interests.

The top military-political leadership of Ukraine has decided on a political-diplomatic scenario for the settlement of the international armed conflict in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions as a priority. The liberation of the temporarily occupied territories by force will inevitably lead to the death of numerous civilians and casualties among the military, which is unacceptable for Ukraine. Being committed to universal values ​​and norms of international humanitarian law, our state puts the lives of its citizens first.

Using intimidation and blackmail of military force, Russia is artificially exacerbating the situation to achieve its own geostrategic goals. The build-up of interspecies groups of troops (forces) along the state border and in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine is being used by the Kremlin as an additional tool of pressure," the statement said.

Khomchak stressed that the Armed Forces were ready for an adequate response both in the event of an escalation of the conflict in the Joint Forces Operation zone and in the event of a complicated military-political and military-strategic situation around Ukraine.

It should be noted that an earlier EU report stated that misinformation targeting Ukraine, as in 2014, preceded and accompanied Russia's recent increase in its armed forces along Ukraine's borders.