Ukrainian nationalists preparing provocations in Kharkov: Russia MoD

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Ukrainian nationalists are preparing a provocation in Kharkov with a hand from Western media, Russian defense ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov said Friday.

"The purpose of the provocation is to call backfire from Russian artillery on the residential sector of Kharkov. All this is planned to be filmed with the subsequent transfer of videos to Western journalists," Konashenkov said. 

Konashenkov cited confirmed data as saying multiple rocket launchers were placed among the houses in the private sector on Zhylyardi Street in Kievskyi District, Donetsk.

Konashenkov said the nationalists prohibited locals, including children, from leaving their homes after placing military targets among them. 

"Now the launchers have been put on alert for shelling units of the Russian armed forces located outside the city," Konashenkov revealed.

Retreating nationalists damage infrastructure

Retreating Ukrainian nationalist units sought to bring upon a humanitarian crisis in Donbass by damaging prominent infrastructure facilities in the region, the spokesperson added.

"I want to stress that the nationalist units, which were formed in the Lvov and Ivano-Frankivsk regions and are retreating in Donbass, are damaging critically important objects of social infrastructure and welfare," Konashenkov highlighted.

He also underscored that the Ukrainian nationalists were carrying out these actions with the intent of "creat[ing] a humanitarian catastrophe in Donbass."

Russia's President and Germany's Chancellor spoke over the telephone on Friday, with President Putin declaring that the main danger in Moscow comes from neo-Nazi military formations, according to a Kremlin statement.

Russia had for months been warning of the threat posed against it by NATO's attempts to expand eastward, which happened simultaneously with an increase in NATO military activity along Russia's borders, and batches of lethal weapons being sent to Ukraine, prompting Russia to request security guarantees from the West. Washington failed to provide the guarantees.

After the West did not respond to Russia's demands, and amid Ukrainian shelling on the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, President Vladimir Putin initiated a special military operation in Donbass.