Putin Accuses Ukraine Of Choosing 'Terror' Over Peace

August 10, 2016

Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Ukraine's government of choosing the path of "terror" over peace, and warned that Moscow will take "serious" measures to ensure security on the Crimean Peninsula.

Putin was speaking on August 10 after Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said two members of the country's security forces were killed in separate incidents described as foiled Ukrainian attempts to get saboteurs into Crimea.

Kyiv denied the allegations, saying Putin was looking for ways to escalate conflict with Ukraine.

Speaking in Moscow, Putin said Kyiv's actions were "stupid" and "criminal," adding that there was no point in holding planned talks on the peace process in eastern Ukraine, where fighting between government forces and Russia-backed separatists has killed more than 9,500 people since April 2014.

The FSB said the "terrorist attacks" were prepared by the Ukrainian Defense Ministry's defense intelligence service.

It said one of its agents was killed in armed clashes while arresting "saboteurs" outside the town of Armyansk on the night of August 6-7.

The agency also said 20 bombs, ammunition, and mines were found in the area.

It said a Ukrainian spy network was also eliminated, with citizens of both Ukraine and Russia detained.

The FSB said a Russian soldier was also killed on August 8 in clashes with two more groups of saboteurs.

Ukraine's Defense Ministry dismissed the allegations as "nothing more than an attempt to justify the redeployment and aggressive actions" of Russian forces in the region.

"Putin wants more war," Foreign Ministry spokesman Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter. "Russia escalates, desperately looks for casus belli against Ukraine, tests West's reaction."

Based on reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, TASS, and Interfax

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/crimea-fsb- ukraine-incursion/27912985.html

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