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Ukraine Shells Border Village In Russia’s Rostov Region
14 July 2014
(LPAC)—Russia responded sharply today to a morning shelling of a large Russian village near the Ukraine border, resulting in the death of one man and serious injuries to two others. A protest note was delivered to the Ukraine chargé d’affaires in Moscow. Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin called the attack “a dangerous escalation for our citizens,” and promised “it will not be left without a response,” in an interview with Rossiya-24 state television. He went on to say, “What has taken place once again reinforces the need for an urgent end to the bloodshed.” He called for talks between “the sides in the conflict.” The incident occurred at 9:15 AM local time in the village of Donetsk (pop. 50,000), where shells fired from across the border in Ukraine struck a home. The Russian Foreign Ministry warned Ukraine that it reserves “the right to take measures to protect its territory and ensure the security of Russian citizens.” The Russian statement warned of “irreversible consequences.” The official statement by the Foreign Ministry stated, “The Russian side views the provocation as another act of aggression by Ukraine toward sovereign Russian territory and citizens, for which Ukraine will bear responsibility.” A spokesman for the Ukraine national security council, Andriy Lysenko, responded that “Ukraine troops are definitely not shooting at Russia.” The Russian Investigative Committee, an organ that reports directly to President Putin, announced it was launching a murder investigation into the Donetsk killing. Even Reuters, in its coverage of the incident, had to admit that for weeks, Putin has been attempting to de-escalate the crisis with Ukraine by “pulling back tens of thousands of troops” and taking other steps. On Saturday, Ukrainian Air Force planes bombed a large part of eastern Ukraine. Voice of Russia carried other strongly worded statements from Deputy Foreign Minister Karasin. ”We are investigating the incident,” he said. ”It’s a sign of a dangerous rise in tensions on the border. This is a qualitatively higher degree of danger to our citizens... Therefore, our demarches will be tough and precise. But first, we need to clarify all the circumstances of the incident.” The Ukraine crisis was also the number one topic of discussion Sunday when Russian President Putin met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Rio de Janiero. RIIA Novosti quoted Putin’s presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying that “Vladimir Putin and Angela Merkel consider an early declaration of a ceasefire, the exchange of prisoners, necessary for the resumption of the contact group to function.” Putin raised the Donetsk incident with Merkel, according to Peskov: “Putin has expressed extreme concern about Ukraine’s continuing offensive operations, pointing out the unacceptability of the situation when such manuevers result in the shelling of Russian territory and lead to today’s tragic case in the Rostov region.” According to Voice of Russia, Ukrainian President Poroshenko spoke on Sunday by phone with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden. Interfax cited the Ukrainian president’s press service saying that “The talks dealt with intensive coordination between Ukraine and the United States, and with the European partners. Biden assured the Ukrainian president that the United States was prepared to intensify international efforts to forge a peaceful settlement. On Saturday, the European Union added 11 Ukrainian rebel leaders to the sanctions list, which means they are barred from getting visas to travel to EU countries and will have their assets seized. The added names bring to 72 the total number of individuals now on the EU sanctions list; however, this action falls far short of the kind of broad-based sanctions that President Obama has been pressuring Europe to adopt. |