“An unidentified projectile fired from Ukraine completely destroyed a border facility used by the FSB border guard service in the Rostov region,” a statement from Russia’s Federal Security Service said.
“An unidentified projectile fired from Ukraine completely destroyed a border facility used by the FSB border guard service in the Rostov region,” a statement from Russia’s Federal Security Service said.
Ukraine rejected a Russian claim that its forces had opened fire on a border post on Monday, designed as “fake news”. stir up tension,
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) previously alleged that a projectile fired from Ukraine destroyed a border facility used by its guards. Video released by the FSB shows a small, apparently one-room shed, with its roof and walls smashed and a Russian flag leaning against scattered rubble.
claim increased Concerns that Moscow is seeking an excuse to justify its military build-up on Ukraine’s border, which US intelligence calls an invasion force. But Ukraine’s spokeswoman for its joint military campaign against Russia-backed separatists Eastern Ukraine Russia was not impressed by the allegations.
“They conduct different provocations and create fake news every day, even a couple of times per day,” Pavlo Kovalchuk told reporters in Kramatorsk. “We can’t stop them from creating this fake news, but we always insist that we don’t shoot at civilian infrastructure,” he said.
“We do not use artillery to shoot back at the occupying forces,” he said, referring to Moscow-backed rebels occupying parts of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions. Washington has repeatedly warned that Moscow is trying to justify a planned offensive by planting fake stories of Ukrainian aggression.
Russian-backed leaders in rebel enclaves in Donetsk and Lugansk have ordered a general mobilization and evacuation of civilians, while shelling intensifies.
The FSB’s statement was issued at the same time that Russian President Vladimir Putin was due to chair an unscheduled meeting of his National Security Council.
“At 9:50 a.m. (0650 GMT) on 21 February, an unidentified projectile fired from Ukraine struck a Russian-Ukrainian border facility used by the FSB border guard service in the Rostov region, approximately 150 meters (490 ft) away from the Russian-Ukrainian border. kind of destroyed. limit,” it said. No one was injured in the incident and Russian military engineers have reached the scene, the statement said. Ukraine has been fighting separatists since 2014, when Russia occupied the Crimean peninsula after overthrowing a pro-Moscow president following street protests in Kiev.
More than 14,000 people have already died in the fighting.
Kiev’s western allies have warned in recent weeks of escalating conflict with Russia, which has more than 150,000 troops around Ukraine.
The southern Rostov region, where the FSB said the shelling took place, last week declared a state of emergency over an expected influx of civilians from rebel-controlled areas.
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