OREANDA-NEWS The possibility of provocations in the Donbass by the Ukrainian Armed Forces cannot be ruled out, but at present there are no signs of them. This was stated on Tuesday, February 1, by the director of the Geneva Center for Security Policy, former OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger.

He clarified that there is always a risk of provocations from all sides, however, according to him, there are almost no ceasefire violations, their number is now lower than in recent months.

“And if provocations occur, I think it is important not to overreact, to respond deliberately and proportionately, and not to aggravate the situation only on the basis of, perhaps, a very simple and stupid provocation,” the former OSCE Secretary General concluded in an interview with RIA Novosti.

On the eve of the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, said that Russia does not exclude provocations from the Ukrainian side against the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR). While the deputy head of the People's Militia Department of the DPR, Eduard Basurin, noted that Kiev was preparing an informational provocation to start large-scale battles in the self-proclaimed republic.

On the same day, the head of the People's Militia Department of the LPR, Yan Leshchenko, drew attention to the fact that the Ukrainian special services and the West were preparing an information campaign to accuse Russia and the self-proclaimed republics of Donbass of aggression against Ukraine. He clarified that Kiev is preparing staged stories about the start of hostilities.