U.S. officials say Russia firing rockets into Ukraine, supplying pro-Russian rebels

The announcement on Thursday was the first time U.S. officials have accused Russia of firing artillery rounds at Ukraine. At a State Department briefing, a spokeswoman said they have evidence that Russia plans to deliver more rocket launchers to the separatists. But Russia brushed off the accusations.

U.S. officials on Thursday for the first time accused Russia of firing artillery rounds from its territory at Ukraine positions across the border. The assertion represents a more confrontational tone by the Obama administration against the Kremlin.

It also means that Russia is now directly engaged with the Ukrainian military — a dramatic escalation of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s support of pro-Russian separatists, edging the two countries closer to war.

At a State Department briefing, spokeswoman Marie Harf said unspecified “intelligence” pointed to more direct Russian involvement in the crisis.

“We have new evidence that the Russians intend to deliver heavier and more powerful multiple rocket launchers to the separatist forces in Ukraine, and have evidence that Russia is firing artillery from within Russia to attack Ukrainian military positions,” she said.

The accusations come amid conflicting claims over the downing of a Malaysian passenger jet over eastern Ukraine last week.

The U.S. has repeatedly accused Russia of stoking the Ukraine rebellion and has said it believes separatists shot down the Malaysian plane with a surface-to-air missile provided by Russia.

Senior U.S. intelligence officials told the Associated Press on Thursday that intercepts, satellite photos and social media postings by separatists, some of which have been authenticated by U.S. experts, show that the Russian-backed separatists are to blame. Russia on Thursday brushed off the accusations.

Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said in a video statement that if the U.S. officials indeed had proof the plane was shot down by a missile launched from the rebel-held territory, “how come they have not been made public?”

The pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian government troops have been fighting for more than three months, leaving at least 400 dead and displacing tens of thousands.

 

Source: New York Daily News