Poroshenko Says Ukraine at War, Southeast 'Brainwashed'
15:16 18/06/2014
KIEV, June 18 (RIA Novosti) – Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko declared Wednesday his country was at war and said its army had been deliberately destroyed over the past years, according to Ukraine's UNIAN news agency.
"It is a new type of warfare, with the use of professional subversive troops, mercenaries, volunteers and the local population. And all these volunteers and local residents have had their brains 'washed' in the ongoing information war," Poroshenko said Wednesday.
Poroshenko made this statement in a graduation speech before students of the National Defense University. The Ukrainian leader said that the venue for his maiden public speech was picked to emphasize the importance of the army for the country, especially in a state of war.
The president said the Ukrainian army had been systematically taken apart and underfinanced. "We entered the war having only naked, barefooted and unarmed soldiers at our disposal," Poroshenko said, adding he was going to change that.
Since mid-April, Kiev authorities have been conducting a special military operation in the east of Ukraine to crack down on independence supporters that refuse to recognize the legitimacy of the new government.
On June 8, the newly-elected Ukrainian president said hostilities in the southeast were to end "this week." This preceded an intensification of clashes between independence supporters and government forces conducting a military operation in the country's Luhansk and Donetsk regions.
Moscow, which describes the ongoing military actions as a punitive operation, has called for an immediate end to the bloodshed, but despite numerous promises to initiate the de-escalation process, Kiev has so far not made any moves to stop the attack.
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