Ukraine debunks fake report claiming Russian border guards’ unit shelled by Ukrainian forces

This was reported by the Ministry of Internal Affairs on Facebook, as seen by Ukrinform.

"The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine says the statement by the FSB of the Russian Federation about the shelling from the territory of Ukraine, as a result of which a building of the Russian border guards’ unit was destroyed is an outright provocation. In particular, the exact location of the incident has not been specified, except for a claim that it was 150 meters from the Russian-Ukrainian border within Rostov region," the statement reads.

The Ministry noted that Rostov region borders both the territory controlled by the Ukrainian authorities within Luhansk region and the non-government-controlled section of the Ukrainian border, which is more than 400 km long.

The agency also stressed that the Ukrainian border guards had received no information from their Russian counterparts about any incidents in the bordering areas.

"At the same time, certain sources cited by Russian outlets say this may be the territory located near the non-government-controlled part of Ukraine's border, in Neklinovsky district of Rostov region," the statement said.

In addition, the press service of the Joint Forces Operation took to Facebook to report that the building shown in photos and videos spread by the Russian propaganda media is more like a "utility room" than a border checkpoint.

In addition, JF’s artillery units are stationed in the disengagement areas. Therefore, given the technical features of the artillery systems available to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, it would be impossible for them to hit the said "utility room."

The JFO press service also emphasizes that the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine remain in their positions, adheringg to the Minsk agreements, not carrying out any offensive actions. "In the absence of any aggressive actions by Ukrainian defenders, the invaders themselves blow up infrastructure objects and chaotically shell settlements," the statement said.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, on February 18, the leaders of the so-called "LPR/DPR" announced the evacuation of residents of the occupied territories to Russia’s Rostov region over what they claimed was an alleged offensive by the Armed Forces of Ukraine

The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, addressed the residents of the occupied areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, emphasizing that Ukraine is not conducting any offensive operations in eastern Ukraine, and called not to believe the occupiers’ lies.

Viktor Lysiuk, head of the Joint Center for Civil-Military Cooperation at the Joint Forces Headquarters, said that over the past five days, the Ukrainian military had recorded 104 shellings of civilian targets by Russian occupation forces in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Forty-four houses were damaged, four educational facilities were destroyed, two cars and a garage, as well as five civil infrastructure sites were damaged. As a result of the shelling, two civilians were injured and three people were shell-shocked.

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