Poroshenko said separatists attempted to attack Shyrokyne two weeks before he and US Senators visited the area
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko stated ,when visiting Mariupol on December 31, that before his coming to Shyrokyne, separatists attacked the village and attempted to assault the positions held by Ukrainian armed forces, UNIAN reports.
"Two weeks ago, Russian-terrorist units tried to seize strongholds in the area of Luhansk, in the locality of the Svitlodarsk salient,” Poroshenko said.
"Ukrainian servicemen not only repelled the enemy’s attacks but also counter attacked, inflicting serious losses on the enemy and achieving victory by improving the disposition of our forces,” he explained.
"The situation remains tense in the Mariupol area where the enemy recently used almost the whole spectrum of available weapon except for rocket artillery,” Poroshenko added. "We’re dealing with a Russian enemy that holds nothing sacred, even Christmas. Although the intensity of the firefight decreased somewhat, the peace agreed on in Minsk has not yet come.”
"Even now, when we were near Shyrokyne, there was artillery fire several minutes before and an attempt to assault, but it didn’t stop us,” the President said.