Russia’s FSB security service said on Wednesday, August 10, it had thwarted “terrorist attacks ” in Crimea this week by Ukrainian military intelligence and beaten back armed assaults, but Kiev fiercely denied the claims.
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Stating that Ukraine “condemns terrorism in all its forms”, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko refuted accusations that Kiev’s military had been plotting to organize attacks on the Russian peninsula.
Fighting between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian forces has increased in the eastern part of the country in recent weeks, with July marking the deadliest month of fighting since August of past year.
According to the Kremlin’s press service, the Russian leader pledged to take countermeasures “along the land border, offshore, and in Crimean airspace” against Ukraine, which he accused on Wednesday of sending intelligence agents into Crimea to carry out terrorist acts and provoke a conflict with Moscow.
Earlier in the day Poroshenko ordered all units on the border with Crimea and on the contact line in Donbass to be at the highest level of combat readiness.
About 9,000 people are reported to have been killed in the conflict in eastern Ukraine that followed the Russian annexation of Crimea.
There were reports on Thursday evening that the authorities had cut off Internet access in northern Crimea close to Ukraine. However, neither side has recently raised any alarm about the Minsk peace accords not being implemented, showing that both Russian Federation and Ukraine find the current stalemate acceptable. North Atlantic Treaty Organisation said it was closely monitoring the heightened tensions, and both it and the USA said they had seen no evidence corroborating Russia’s allegations.
For twenty-four hours the tensions between Russian Federation and Ukraine about the Crimea are still mounted a notch.
Kiev’s ambassador to the United Nations Volodymyr Yelchenko said Ukraine would ask the UN Security Council to hold an urgent meeting if tensions continue to rise.
NPR notes that the United States appears to be backing Ukraine’s account, with U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt, saying it “has seen nothing so far that corroborates Russian allegations of a Crimea incursion”. According to FSB, terrorist attacks were planned to target critical infrastructure in Crimea.
Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko dismissed the claim, fearing that Russian Federation was fabricating an excuse to attack Ukraine.
“This is a very unsafe game”, Putin said.
“We call for the avoidance of any actions that would escalate the situation”.
“Divisions and units of the Ukrainian armed forces which are stationed in the vicinity of the administrative border with Crimea are on high alert”.
Other commentators have pointed out that a flare-up in Ukraine gives Putin an opportunity to look strong ahead of September’s Duma elections.
Poroshenko considered the accusation from Russian Federation as cynical and preposterous, comparing it with the statement made about Donbass military troop absence.
The US and European Union imposed sanctions on Moscow in response to its seizure of the territory.
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The 2015 peace agreement for eastern Ukraine signed in Minsk has helped reduce fighting in eastern Ukraine, but peaceful settlement has floundered.
