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Units of the Ukrainian Air Assault Forces, in particular the units of the 95th brigade, are being deployed on the coast of the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea, President Petro Poroshenko stated during a visit to the Kiev-controlled part of the Donetsk region on December 20.
“The combat units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have now sharply increased their combat readiness. We involved additional units of the State Border Service, the National Guard, the Chief Department of the National Police, the Security Service of Ukraine. The defense of the state border is carried out in the enhanced mode,” he added;
It should be noted that the Air Assault Forces are an offensive branch of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. So, the deployment of such units in the area can be described as a signal that the Kiev government is preparing for some kind of offensive actions in the region.
The deployment of the reinforcements in the area comes amid reports about Ukrainian preparations to send another naval group through the Kerch Strait. It’s highly likely that this naval group, like the previous one, will violate the rules of passage through the strait and try to provoke a confrontation with Russian coastal guards.
This as well as the continued reports that the Ukrainian Armed Forces have been deploying offensive weaponry, including battle tanks, in the region of Donbass may indicate that Kiev is preparing to start a new conflict in the region.
The martial law was imposed in 10 regions of Ukraine on November 26, 2018 for 30 days. So, Poroshenko has less than a week to create conditions to prolong it or accept an almost inevitable defeat in the upcoming presidential election, which is set to be held on March 31, 2019.
