The head of Ukrainian Military Intelligence (SBU), Valery Kondratyuk, has claimed that Russian soldiers and border guards in Crimea fired at each other, according to media reports Thursday.
According to
Kondratyuk, a gun battle took place between regular Russian troops and
border guards in Crimea, though it was not specified when the alleged
incident took place.
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) announced Wednesday that two Russian officers had been killed in anti-terrorism operations in Crimea against groups of "saboteurs" working for the Ukrainian military. They accuse Ukraine’s military of planning terrorist attacks in Crimea and of firing on Russian troops from Ukrainian territory.
The aim of the attacks was to "kill terrorism" in Crimea, the Kommersant newspaper reported.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Ukraine had “resorted to terrorism," but Ukraine strongly denied the allegations, with President Petro Poroshenko calling the claims “fantasy.”
The claims were published in details of a meeting between Poroshenko and top military officials on the Ukrainian government’s website.
The Reuters news agency on Thursday reported that the increased military build-up around Crimea would be discussed at a meeting of the United Nations security council.
