Russian military forces used a drone to attack Ukrainian troops in the eastern Ukrainian region wracked by conflict since 2014, according to a senior Ukrainian diplomat.
“Just a few days ago, on Jan. 25, armed formations of the Russian Federation once again attacked the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the area of Pyshchevyk, Donetsk region,” Ukrainian Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya told the U.N. Security Council. “VOG-17 fragmentation grenades dropped from that [unmanned aerial vehicle] resulted in severe injuries to two Ukrainian servicemen.”
That anecdote illustrated Kyslytsya's broader complaint that Russian forces are responsible for the violence in eastern Ukraine, which Moscow portrays as a civil war between the central government in Kyiv and ethnic Russians living in the region. And he reinforced U.S. condemnation of Russia’s mobilization around Ukraine — after several days of open disputes between President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky about how to discuss the looming crisis.
US: UKRAINE THINKS NEW RUSSIAN INVASION IS 'INEVITABLE'
“There's only one difference between us and the United States. We both understand the reality of the threat, and we both understand the risks that Ukraine and, more broadly, Euro-Atlantic security are facing,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told NPR in an interview that aired Monday. “The difference is that while the United States preferred to speak about it loudly almost every day in public statements and comments, we are quietly focused on preparing the country for any possible scenario.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s team has been assembling a trans-Atlantic coalition to impose sanctions on Russia in the event of a new invasion — a diplomatic initiative that Kuleba welcomed during Blinken’s recent visit to Kyiv. Yet the ominous rhetoric around that effort “really hits economy,” Kuleba said, and “spreads panic in the society."
“We have been living in a state of conflict with Russia since 2014,” he said. “If Russia succeeds here in Ukraine, that will send a clear message to everyone who wants to rewrite rules on which the world is based — that this is possible, that the United States and the democratic coalition led by the United States are incapable to maintain the current world order. They are weak. And if you behave in a bold, aggressive way, you will eventually succeed.”
Russian proxies have accused Ukrainian authorities of plotting “a special disinformation crusade” to portray Russia as the aggressor in the conflict, while Russian officials insist that the mobilization of more than 100,000 troops around Ukrainian borders is nobody’s business but their own because the troops remain inside Russian territory.
“Nevertheless, shootings, shelling, sniper fire on Ukrainian positions, and systematic use of attack UAVs against Ukrainian troops have not stopped,” Kyslytsya said. “We have lost 12 servicemen killed in action and 14 wounded since 22 December 2021.”
The conflict has simmered for years despite a pair of high-profile accords negotiated in the so-called Normandy Format in which France and Germany tried to broker a deal between Russia and Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s team participated while claiming not to be a party to the conflict, although a Russian judge recently issued a verdict that referred to “the garrisons of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation stationed on the territory of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics” as a statement of fact. (The judge was in error, according to the Kremlin and a subsequent statement from the court.)
“Significant reinforcement of combat capabilities of the Russian occupation forces in Donbas is another worrying trend,” Kyslytsya said. “Currently, these formations consist of up to 35,000 personnel, including around 3,000 servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces on command posts and in other critical combat positions.”
Kuleba emphasized to NPR that Ukraine is not asking for American troops to come fight the Russians.
“We have never requested American boots here on the ground,” the Ukrainian foreign minister said. “We don't need your boots on the ground, but help us to fight this war diplomatically, militarily, and we will defend the current world order led by the United States and other democratic countries in this part of the world.”
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/ukraine-accuses-russian-military-of-using-drone-to-attack-troops
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