Kiev unilaterally stopped the passage of people through the checkpoint “Stanitsa Luganskaya” near the contact line in Donbass. This is stated in a message published on Friday, April 30, on the website of the Ministry of State Security (MGB) of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR).
“The Border Guard Service of the Ministry of State Security of the Luhansk People’s Republic informs citizens that the Ukrainian side has unilaterally stopped the passage of citizens from / to the territory temporarily controlled by Ukraine from 12:00 (12:00 Moscow time) on April 30 of this year through the temporary checkpoint “Stanitsa Luganskaya”, – the statement says.
At the same time, it is specified that on the LPR side, the checkpoint is functioning normally.
Checkpoint “Stanitsa Luganskaya” is the only checkpoint between the territory controlled by Kiev and the LPR.
The day before, the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) Heidi Grau called on the parties to the conflict in Donbass to urgently take steps on mine action.
On April 28, Russia’s plenipotentiary representative in the TCG, Boris Gryzlov, said that Russia’s proposals to reduce tensions in Donbass were blocked by Ukraine at a regular meeting of the group for resolving the conflict in Donbass.
On April 27, it was reported that in the LPR, a car of the Ukrainian armed forces was blown up by a mine, which had previously been set by Ukrainian security officials, in the area of the Kiev-controlled village of Orekhovo in the Donbass.
On April 4, the press service of the People’s Militia of the LPR reported that a civilian was injured by an explosive device. It was clarified that it was dropped by Ukrainian security forces from an unmanned aerial vehicle.
Since 2014, Kiev has been conducting a military operation against the residents of Donbass, who refused to recognize the results of the coup and the new government in Ukraine. Kiev blames Moscow for this situation and is trying to win other countries over to its side. Moscow has repeatedly noted that it is not a party to the internal Ukrainian conflict. The settlement issues are being discussed in the Normandy and Minsk formats – with the participation of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France.