Monday results in the occupied territories of Donbas. The highlights
In the area of the Joint Forces Operation on August 2, three violations of the ceasefire were recorded by the Russian occupation forces, the JFO headquarters reported. The occupiers opened fire from 82-caliber mortars near the settlement of Opytne. The enemy fired from heavy anti-tank and automatic heavy grenade launchers, as well as heavy machine guns, near Prychepylivka. In addition, the passage of the enemy unmanned aerial vehicle of the Orlan-10 type was recorded crossing the demarcation line in the Luhansk oblast. There are no combat losses among the servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Ukrainian defenders returned fire to the shelling of the Russian occupation forces. The Ukrainian party of the JCCC informed the representatives of the OSCE Mission about all facts of violations by the Russian occupation forces.
Leader of the "DNR" Denis Pushilin stated to the Russian media the impossibility of returning the now occupied Donbas to Ukraine. "The return is no longer possible under any circumstances. After the coup in 2014, this is not even the same Ukraine. This is something different - some other entity that does not allow it to exist as a single state space", - the puppet "head of the republic" stated. Earlier, when Denis Pushilin needed to accuse Ukraine of incapacity to negotiate, he hypocritically stated that CADLO was committed to the Minsk agreements. Meanwhile, the Minsk agreements, first of all, provide for the restoration of the territorial integrity of Ukraine.
Leader of the "DNR" Denis Pushilin told the Russian media about the readiness of the so-called "people's militia" armed gangs to launch a counteroffensive in the event of a mythical AFU attack. "We understand very well that Kyiv still has not abandoned its intentions to resolve the conflict in the Donbas by force, so we are ready for anything. We are ready for various scenarios of the course of events. If necessary, taking into account our strengths and capabilities, we are ready not only to talk about repelling aggressive actions by Ukraine, but also to launch a counteroffensive. If Kyiv cancels all attempts to resolve the conflict peacefully, we simply will not have any other way out", - the puppet "head of the republic" stated.
Occupation authorities of the "DNR" did not conduct research on COVID-19 on Sunday, August 1, arguing that the only laboratory in CADO was sanitized. At the same time, the occupiers recognized 90 cases of allegedly "usual pneumonia" over the day, which CADO refuses to recognize as coronavirus. Half of them were hospitalized, 32 people were immediately sent for oxygen support. In total, as of August 2, the occupiers of the "DNR" recognized 48 159 cases of COVID-19 and 3610 deaths.
Doctors registered 11 deaths from COVID-19 in the occupied territory of the Luhansk oblast over the day, separatist media wrote. Thus, according to "official" information, doctors have registered 602 deaths of patients who have been diagnosed with coronavirus since the beginning of the pandemic.
In occupied Torez, a miner from the Volynske mine management was injured by a piece of rock that fell out. This was reported by the so-called "Ministry of Emergency Situations of the DNR". The incident took place at the branch of the mine administration in the village of Stizhkivske of the Shakhtarsky district. The mine overseer of the site, born in 1971, was injured as a result of a rock fall. The injured miner received medical attention and was hospitalized.
In the occupied Antratsyt district in the Luhansk region, two brothers were asphyxiated to death by carbon dioxide in a small illegal coalmine, into which they went down for coal at night. This was said in the message of the so-called "Ministry of Emergency Situations of the LNR". Two siblings, aged 29 and 33, went to the small illegal coalmine for coal at night. After a while, their mother went to look for them, but no one reacted to the screams, after which the father went down to the mine, where he found the bodies of his sons. "The locals ran to the cries for help, after several attempts, they managed to get the body of one of the brothers. The corpse of the younger, which was at a distance of no more than 10 meters below the surface, was raised by local residents to the surface with their own hands. The body of the older brother was at a distance of 35 meters, in order to remove it, special respiratory protection equipment and professional skills were needed due to the constraint working environment. Mine rescuers descended the shaft and brought the second victim to the surface", - the message said.