MOSCOW, June 5 (RIA Novosti) – Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Alexander Lukashevich has dismissed as “baseless” Kiev’s allegations of Russian arms supplies to independence supporters in eastern Ukraine.
During Thursday’s meeting, the Russian foreign policy official dismissed unconfirmed reports that Russia was supplying self-defense forces in Donetsk and Luhansk with weapons and denied “baseless allegations of the Ukrainian side about trucks with weapons crossing the [Russian-Ukrainian border].”
Earlier in the day, Ukraine’s acting Head of the Presidential Administration Serhiy Pashinsky said he had no evidence to confirm reports that claimed 15 trucks with gunmen had trespassed into Ukraine from Russia on Wednesday night, saying he lacked sufficient information about this incident. The breach of the Ukrainian border was reported by Ukrainian politician Yuriy Lutsenko.
Moscow has raised the issue of Kiev using heavy armaments in its special operations against independence supporters in eastern Ukraine at OSCE session, with Russia’s envoy Andrei Kelin in Kiev saying the Ukrainian military had reportedly used exploding bullets, cluster bombs and artillery to clamp down on independence supporters.
The envoy added that the latest report from the OSCE’s Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine confirmed pro-Kiev forces had resorted to tanks, artillery and aircraft in its operations.
On Tuesday, the town of Krasnyi Lyman near Slaviansk was heavily shelled by the Ukrainian army, with national Guards allegedly slaughtering 25 injured people at a local hospital.
