“It is known with certainty that the command of the 72nd information and psychological operations center of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is preparing another large-scale provocation, (ending) with civilian deaths, allegedly as a result of indiscriminate attacks by the Russian Army,” the Defense Ministry stated.

The head of the Russian Center for Defense Management, Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev, explained at a press conference that the area planned to be used as a stage for said provocation are the suburbs of Slaviansk, in the territory of the Donetsk People’s Republic.

He also stated that Ukrainian troops deployed mortars which they plan to use on August 7th, 2022 to carry out the provocation by bombarding the places where the local inhabitants reside compactly, as well as refugees during the distribution of humanitarian aid.

Mizintsev added that the way the Ukrainian forces operate has not changed, as they seek to prepare images and videos of the alleged “killings of civilians by the Russians” for later dissemination in the Ukrainian and Western media, while “foreign journalists arrived in the city,” the colonel general denounced.

The representative of the Russian Defense Ministry warned in advance “the world community and international organizations about the cynical provocation that the Ukrainian authorities are preparing, as a result of which hundreds of people may die.”

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