Andrey Biletsky, the leader of the National Corps Party of Ukraine, formerly the head of Azov regiment, posted a few recommendations on his Telegram channel on how Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky could raise the morale of the military.
Biletskiy called Zelensky "the dodger in a bulletproof vest back to front" and recommended him to let the Armed Forces of Ukraine do their job.
“To respond with fire to fire. Give soldier an opportunity to work," he wrote on his Telegram page.
On April 8, Zelensky arrived on a working trip to Donbass. During the trip, he will visit the contact line and talk to Ukrainian servicemen.
Prior to that, it became known that a 22-year-old serviceman of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Denis Yushko, was killed under fire not far from the settlements of Peski and Vodyanoe.
Another aggravation of the crisis in the Donbass began in late March. Ukraine and the self-proclaimed republics accuse each other of intensifying the shelling, reconnaissance activities and moving military hardware in the area of the contact line.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and drew her attention to Kiev's provocative actions in the Donbass, a message said posted on the Kremlin website on Thursday, April 8.
According to Putin, Kiev has been deliberately exacerbating the situation on the line of contact.
"The need was emphasized for the Kiev authorities to strictly implement the previously reached agreements, primarily on establishing direct dialogue with Donetsk and Luhansk and legalizing the special status of the Donbass," the message posted on the Kremlin website says.
The parties also discussed the crisis in Syria. Putin and Merkel pointed out the need to improve the humanitarian situation in the region. At the same time, the Russian president urged not to politicize issues related to the provision of foreign aid to the Syrian people, the restoration of the socio-economic infrastructure and the return of refugees.
Putin and Merkel also discussed other topics, such as the state of affairs in the Balkans, the crisis in Libya, the activities of foreign media and non-governmental organizations in Russia and Germany, the situation with Alexei Navalny.
The Kremlin has repeatedly expressed concerns lately about the increased frequency of provocations by Ukrainian security forces. Putin's official spokesperson Peskov warned of the risk for the civil war in the region to resume.