KIEV, October 4 (RIA Novosti) - During a visit to a military-industrial complex in Zaporizhia, Ukraine's Defense Minister Valeriy Heletey stated that the armed forces of the country would receive high-precision weapons, the Ukrainian TV channel "1+1" reported.
"We have already purchased a lot of high-precision weapons as well as equipment that we did not possess before – automated control systems, communication systems and many others that we needed before. We have to re-equip our armed forces in the near future," "1+1" quoted Heletey as saying Saturday.
At the beginning of September, Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko stated that the country's army was expecting rearmament, with modern high-tech ammunition in the army to increase in amount. Later, when making a speech during the military parade in Kiev, Poroshenko said that over three billion dollars would be allocated between 2015 and 2017 to the rearmament of the army and upgrade of the military equipment.
In April, Ukrainian authorities launched a military operation in the country's southeast, where independence supporters refused to accept the new government that was put in power following a coup in February.
The self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics in eastern Ukraine held referendums this May on self-determination. Over 90 percent of the voters cast their votes for greater autonomy. The republics declared themselves sovereign states as a result.
On September 5, a truce was brokered by Russia and the OSCE, which is for the most part maintained. The sides, however, blame one another for violating it. Reports from DPR claim that the Ukrainian forces are firing shells at residential buildings from the area near the airport of Donetsk, thus forcing the independence supporters to open fire.
According to UN estimates, the conflict has so far killed over 3,600 people and injured over 8,500.
