Luhansk and Donetsk militia have launched a "counter-offensive" with fire support from the Russian armed forces, the official representative of the Russian Defense Ministry, Major General Igor Konashenkov, said on Thursday.

He added that Ukraine is preparing provocations according to the patterns of the White Helmets with staged videos about mass casualties among the country's civilian population. Russian forces have not launched any missile, artillery, or air attacks on Ukrainian cities. Ukrainian forces that lay down their arms and surrender will not be attacked.