The Security Service of Ukraine released audio recordings of conversations of militants of the "L/DPR" who recently shelled the population of the occupied territories of Donbas: they admit that they themselves arrange provocations and shelling of civilians, discussing the accumulation of Russian troops.

"SBU officers received conversations of militants of the so-called 'LPR' and 'DPR' who began escalating events in Donbass in February 2022," the SBU said in a statement posted on the agency's website on Tuesday.

The SBU specifies that the released recordings show terrorists and residents of the temporarily occupied territories admitting among themselves that they themselves are arranging provocations and shelling civilians, discussing the accumulation of Russian troops, Chechens from Kadyrov's "regiment," are surprised that the AFU forces do not respond to provocative shelling by the fighters, and say that the fighters themselves were caught "in a box in Russia" (the FSB later called this "shelling of a Russian border checkpoint in the Rostov Region").

Also, according to the recordings, the militants confirm that their shells hit the Luhansk thermal power plant, which left the city of Schastye without electricity, water and heat supply.

"The mentioned conversations were obtained in the course of SBU counterintelligence work carried out to repel and deter the armed aggression of the Russian Federation in Donetsk and Luhansk regions," the message reads.

The report notes that the materials were declassified and made public with the permission of the SBU investigators to show who is really responsible for inflaming the situation in eastern Ukraine.

"Activities to expose and document the intruders were carried out by SBU officers in Donetsk and Luhansk regions," the department said in a statement.

Audio recordings are posted on the SBU website.