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Putin raises stakes over alleged Ukrainian terror plot in Crimea Putin raises stakes over alleged Ukrainian terror plot in Crimea
(about 1 hour later)
Vladimir Putin has said Russia will not ignore an alleged Ukrainian terror plot targeting the Crimean peninsula, raising the stakes over an incident that Kiev denies took place. Vladimir Putin has accused Ukraine of plotting terrorist attacks in Crimea and claimed two Russian servicemen were killed in clashes this week, as tensions over the peninsula rose to the highest point since Russia annexed it in 2014.
Russia’s security service said on Wednesday it had foiled a plot by its Ukrainian counterpart to launch terrorist attacks in Crimea, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine two years ago. Ukraine denied the alleged incidents had taken place and dismissed the claims as Russian “provocation”.
The FSB agency said one of its officers had been killed during a shootout with a “group of diversionaries” on Saturday night, when they were supposedly discovered just inside Crimea’s border with mainland Ukraine. The FSB said the group had in their possession 20 homemade devices with a total of 40kg of explosives. But in characteristically bellicose language Putin accused Ukraine of playing a dangerous game.”We obviously will not let such things slide by,” Putin said on Wednesday. Ukraine had “resorted to the practice of terror”, he said.
Ukraine dismissed the story as fake. According to the RIA Novosti news agency, Putin responded: “Instead of trying to find peaceful solutions, Ukraine has resorted to the practice of terror.” Putin’s warning that Russia would not ignore the incidents will worry observers. The increased tension in Crimea comes at a time when the simmering conflict in eastern Ukraine appears to be heating up. There are almost daily casualties on the frontline between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed rebel military formations, and little sign of a resolution to the conflict, in which more than 9,000 people have been killed over the past two years.
The Russian president also said it made no sense to have a “Normandy four” meeting in the current circumstances. The quartet of leaders from Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany have met periodically to discuss the conflict in eastern Ukraine. A meeting of the four was planned at the G20 summit in China next month. Russia’s security service, the FSB, claimed in a statement that one of its officers had been killed during a shootout with a “group of diversionaries” on Saturday night, when they were supposedly discovered just inside Crimea’s border with mainland Ukraine. The FSB said the group had in their possession 20 homemade devices with a total of 40kg of explosives.
The FSB said that following the firefight on Saturday night there had been a further incident on Monday involving “massive firing” from the Ukrainian side of the border and attempts to enter the region by force, during which a Russian soldier died. The FSB said there had been a further incident on Monday involving “massive firing” from the Ukrainian side of the border and attempts to enter the region by force, during which a Russian soldier died.
“On the night of 8 August 2016 special operations forces from the Ukrainian defence ministry carried out two more attempts to make a breakthrough by sabotage-terrorist groups,” it said. “On the night of 8 August 2016, special operations forces from the Ukrainian defence ministry carried out two more attempts to make a breakthrough by sabotage-terrorist groups,” it said.
The FSB said it had arrested a man named Evgeny Panov, allegedly a Ukrainian military intelligence operative born in 1977, and said he had made a confession. The FSB said it had arrested a man named Evgeny Panov, allegedly a Ukrainian military intelligence operative born in 1977, and said he had made a confession. However, it gave no further information.
Kiev dismissed all of the claims as Russian provocation. “This is a very dangerous game,” said Putin. “We will of course do everything to assure the security of infrastructure, citizens and will take additional measures to provide security, including serious additional measures.”
“This kind of FSB statement is nothing more than an attempt to justify the relocation and aggressive actions of Russian military units on the temporarily occupied peninsula,” Ukraine’s defence ministry said in a statement. The FSB said Kiev’s aim was the “destabilisation of the socio-political situation in the region during preparation for elections”. Russia will hold nationwide parliamentary elections on 18 September, with Crimea taking part for the first time since its annexation.
Locals in Crimea have noted a large amount of Russian military hardware on the move in recent days, and the de facto borders between Crimea and Ukraine were closed over the weekend and subject to increased security checks when they reopened.
Ukraine’s defence ministry said: “This kind of FSB statement is nothing more than an attempt to justify the relocation and aggressive actions of Russian military units on the temporarily occupied peninsula.
“Russian security services are trying to distract the population of Crimea and the international community from its criminal actions, turning the peninsula into an isolated military base.”“Russian security services are trying to distract the population of Crimea and the international community from its criminal actions, turning the peninsula into an isolated military base.”
Locals in Crimea had noted a large amount of Russian military hardware on the move in recent days, and the de facto borders between Crimea and Ukraine were closed over the weekend and subjected to increased security checks when they reopened. Oleskandr Turchynov, the head of Ukraine’s national security and defence council, also dismissed the claims. “The hysterical and false statement by Russia’s FSB has no purpose other than an attempt by occupiers to inflame the situation on temporarily occupied Ukrainian lands,” he said.
The FSB said Kiev’s aim was the “destabilisation of the socio-political situation in the region during preparation for elections”. Russia will hold nationwide parliamentary elections on 18 September, with Crimea taking part for the first time since it annexation two years ago. Russia annexed Crimea in a swift military operation following the February 2014 revolution in Kiev that deposed the Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych. Armed men in unmarked uniforms fanned out across the peninsula and seized Ukrainian army bases and other key infrastructure. At the time Putin vehemently denied the men were Russian soldiers, though later he admitted they were.
Putin’s warning that Russia would not ignore the incident will worry observers. The increased tension in Crimea comes at a time when the simmering conflict in eastern Ukraine appears to be heating up. There are almost daily casualties on the frontline between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed rebel military formations, and little sign of a resolution to the conflict, in which more than 9,000 people have been killed over the past two years. Crimeans voted overwhelmingly to join Russia in a referendum that was dismissed as flawed and illegitimate by the international community and led to western sanctions against Russia, which are still in place.
Igor Plotnitsky, the head of the self-declared Luhansk People’s Republic, was admitted to hospital after an assassination attempt earlier this month. He blamed Ukrainian authorities and the CIA, but other analysts suggest infighting or falling out with his Russian handlers is a more likely cause. Ukraine has said it will never give up its claim to the peninsula, though it has acknowledged in the past that it does not have the military capability to regain control. Ukrainian authorities have tacitly supported a blockade of Crimea by a group of Crimean Tatars, an indigenous ethnic group that largely opposed the annexation. For several months last year, Crimean Tatars blocked trucks from entering Crimea from mainland Ukraine and even blew up electricity pipelines, leading to a blackout in Crimea that lasted several months.
Putin has promised infrastructure will be built within the next few years that will make Crimea self-sufficient for its energy requirements, and Moscow is building a bridge across the Kerch Strait to link Crimea with the Russian mainland, which is due to open in 2018.
Crimea’s governor, Sergey Aksyonov, who was appointed by Moscow, said attempts to destabilise the peninsula during the summer tourist season would be prevented “in the harshest possible way”, promising that the region was safe for residents and tourists.Crimea’s governor, Sergey Aksyonov, who was appointed by Moscow, said attempts to destabilise the peninsula during the summer tourist season would be prevented “in the harshest possible way”, promising that the region was safe for residents and tourists.
Igor Plotnitsky, head of the self-declared Luhansk People’s Republic, was admitted to hospital after an assassination attempt this month. He blamed Ukrainian authorities and the CIA, but other analysts suggested infighting or falling out with his Russian handlers was a more likely cause.
Responding to the alleged incidents in Crimea, Putin also said it made no sense to have a “Normandy four” meeting in the current circumstances. The quartet of leaders from Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany have met periodically to discuss the conflict in eastern Ukraine. A meeting of the four had been mooted for the G20 summit in China next month.