ATO Forces Unable To Begin Troop Withdrawal Near Stanytsia Luhanska Because Of Militant Attacks

The government anti-terrorist operation (ATO) forces have not begun withdrawing from around the village of Stanytsia Luhanska (Luhansk region) because of attacks by militants.

The press service of the Defense Ministry announced this in a statement, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

"In the Luhansk direction, Russian occupation forces have carried out 10 attacks on positions of units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the part 24 hours. In particular, several attacks near … Stanytsia Luhanska. This means that the Armed Forces are currently unable to perform this measure in the Luhansk direction," the statement said.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces withdrew forces and hardware from around the village of Petrovske (Donetsk region) on Friday.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the headquarters of the ATO has announced the successful separation of ATO forces and DPR forces around Bohdanivka and Petrovske (Donetsk region).