Ukrainian servicemen need no permission to return fire – General Staff

The deputy commander of the Joint Forces Operation, the head of the security subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group on the peaceful settlement of the situation in Donbas, Major General Bohdan Bondar said this at a briefing on Friday evening, an Ukrinform correspondent reported.

"In accordance with the order of the chief of the General Staff, the commander-in-chief, the commander of the Joint Forces Operation and the brigade commanders, the Ukrainian soldiers are allowed to independently use equipment and weapons in case of danger to life or loss of territory. After that, no punitive measures are taken, because the life and health of our servicemen depends on it, and a moral climate in the units that perform combat tasks depends on it as well,” he said.

He recalled that two Ukrainian servicemen were killed, four more were wounded and six soldiers were injured, when Russian-backed forces attacked Ukrainian positions near the village of Novoluhanske on June 7. The Ukrainian Joint Forces adequately returned fire in response to the enemy's shooting.

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