LUGANSK, May 20. /TASS/:The self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) will be forced to take decisive measures and change the line of contact with the Kiev-controlled territory if the Ukrainian side goes ahead with its shelling attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, LPR head Leonid Pasechnik said on Tuesday.
On May 16, a power supply line delivering electricity to critically important infrastructure facilities in LPR was damaged as a result of shelling by Kiev troops.
"I would like to address Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky with a strong request to take measures and stop unprovoked shelling of our territory, as well as to provide proper security guarantees for those repairing our critical civilian infrastructure," he said in a statement. "If the armed forces of Ukraine continue such actions, you, Vladimir Alekseevich, will leave us no choice but to take effective and decisive measures to push the line of contact away from the above-mentioned power supply line. Similar measures will be taken if shelling of civilians and critically important infrastructure continues in other areas."
The official said the people’s militia of the LPR was put on combat alert in connection with the incident.
He described the regular shelling attacks against the republic as an act of deliberate provocation by the Ukrainian troops.
"This is a deliberate provocation, and its goal is obvious to everyone. It aims at destroying our republic’s critically important infrastructure facilities, which are vital for our population. And Ukraine has already made certain progress toward this goal, by causing serious disruptions in the electricity and water supply of Lugansk, which may result in a humanitarian disaster," the statement says.
The LPR leader called upon Russia, Germany, France and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to put pressure on Ukraine for ensuring a real ceasefire.
Since the fall of 2014, members of the Contact Group on resolving the situation in eastern Ukraine have announced ceasefires in Donbass more than 20 times. The leaders of the Normandy Four group (Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine) at a meeting in Paris on December 9 emphasized the need to establish a comprehensive ceasefire in Donbass before the end of 2019. However, the Ukrainian Armed Forces continue shelling attacks.
