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Photos 'show Russian troops' in east Ukraine Ukraine crisis: What the 'Russian soldier' photos say
(about 3 hours later)
The Ukrainian government has released photos that it says show Russian soldiers among militants holding official buildings in eastern Ukraine. Photos released by the Ukrainian government as "proof" of Russian soldiers on the ground in Donetsk leave many questions to be answered.
Handed to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe last week, the photos have since been distributed by the US state department. With thousands of Russian soldiers massed on Ukraine's frontiers, any evidence that they are actually over the border, as was the case in Crimea in March, is being taken very seriously.
They are said to show Russian soldiers or paramilitaries in flashpoint towns in Ukraine's Donetsk region. What do the photos show?
Russia denies it has military units on the ground in Donetsk. Heavily armed gunmen in combat uniform, many of them masked.
The BBC is unable to verify the pictures and there was no immediate response to the pictures from the Russian government. The low-quality, annotated images were handed to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe on 16 April, as evidence that Russian "sabotage-reconnaissance groups" had been working with separatists in the Donetsk towns of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.
Pro-Russian militants are holding official buildings in towns and cities in the east. According to a New York Times article, the photos and their descriptions were "endorsed by the Obama administration". Distributing the images, the US state department said they confirmed the "connection between Russia and some of the armed militants in eastern Ukraine".
Same men? However, the BBC has been unable to verify the pictures and there was no immediate response from the Russian government.
According to the Ukrainian press release, the photos show the same bearded gunman taking part in militant operations in the Donetsk towns of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk this year, and in operations in Georgia in 2008. How damning are they?
However, in the 2014 photos, his greying beard appears to be black while in Georgia six years ago, the slimmer-looking man shown has a reddish beard. The Ukrainian press release says the photos show the same heavily bearded gunman taking part in militant operations in Kramatorsk and Sloviansk this year, and in an operation in Georgia in 2008, when Russia fought a brief war with that former Soviet republic.
Other unverified photos are said to show the same masked gunman in both Donetsk and Crimea, the Ukrainian region annexed last month by Russia. This would be damning evidence indeed but in the 2014 photos, the man's greying beard appears to be black while in Georgia six years ago, the slimmer-looking man shown has a reddish beard.
The Ukrainian press release argues that the photos are proof of a Russian special forces unit operating in eastern Ukraine. The Ukrainian government highlights a Russian special forces badge on the sleeve of the gunman in Georgia but such badges can be bought on the internet for less than $5 (£2.90).
Ukraine's permanent representative to the International Organizations in Vienna said the photos provided "growing evidence of Russia's involvement in instigating and co-ordinating the separatist actions that destabilise the situation in the east of Ukraine". Another set of photos purports to show the same masked gunman in both Crimea earlier and in the Donetsk region this month. However, while a similar combat uniform is worn in both photos, the masks are different, as is the way the pistol is worn on his belt.
US state department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said there was "broad unity in the international community about the connection between Russia and some of the armed militants in eastern Ukraine". Apart from the photo said to have been taken in Georgia, all of the images seem to be recent and there is nothing to suggest any of them were taken outside Ukraine.
"The photos presented by the Ukrainians last week only further confirm this," she said, adding that it was a "pivotal period" for Russia to "use their influence to de-escalate the situation in Eastern Ukraine". Do they prove anything?
Russia has previously denied it is destabilising Ukraine, and warned the authorities in Kiev against any use of force against pro-Russian demonstrators. What comes across from the photos is that at least one unit of heavily armed, well-equipped, pro-Russian paramilitaries has been operating in the Donetsk region.
"There are no Russian units, special services or instructors in the east of Ukraine," President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday. But it cannot be said for sure that they are actual Russian special forces, as the Ukrainians argue. At the same time, the idea that they might be a local militia from Donetsk is belied by their apparent military professionalism.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week there were "no Russian units, special services or instructors in the east of Ukraine" but such denials of military involvement ring hollow for many after Russia's covert actions in Crimea, especially after he subsequently admitted troops had operated there.
Without using photos, Gen Philip Breedlove, Nato's commander in Europe, argued convincingly last week that they must be "Russian forces".
That said, theoretically, the paramilitaries in the photos could be ex-servicemen from Russia or elsewhere. Military veterans of the Soviet war in Afghanistan have been active on both the nationalist side in Ukraine and in patriotic groups in Russia.
Will more evidence emerge?
There are several clear photos of three of the gunmen's faces so their identity may be established eventually. However, the fact that they all have beards may complicate matters.
An article about covert warfare on the US website Defense One argues that iris scanning is a good way to identify masked men but admits the limitations to this approach in Donetsk. "Ukraine isn't Facebook," it notes.
Meanwhile pro-Ukrainian bloggers share photos of militants in the east, both masked and unmasked, in the hope that someone may be able to recognise them.