Russian media reports on Ukraine - 07/14/2014

Some updates from Russian media

Ukraine denies shelling Russia's Donetsk, says 'army not deployed there'

Voice of Russia,

14 July, 2014

Ukraine's National Guard says it had nothing to do with the shelling of the Russian town of Donetsk in the Rostov region on Sunday, July 13. "The Ukrainian National Guard command categorically denies reports that the National Guard was involved in the shelling of the Russian town of Donetsk on July 13. Again, the National Guard is not deployed in the cited district, or in a territory matching the shell's trajectory," the National Guard announced. This was a response to Moscow saying that the Russian government "knew exactly where the gunfire was coming from".

"The National Guard has no weapon systems that could have inflicted the damage of a corresponding scope," the statement says.

Russian Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin earlier said that at least seven shells were fired on the Rostov region from Ukraine on Sunday. A man was killed and two people were seriously wounded when a shell hit a house in Russia's Donetsk.

The Investigative Committee launched a probe into the incident on murder counts. On the same day, the Russian Foreign Ministry invited Ukraine's Charge d'Affaires in Russia and expressed its resolute protest. The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the Russian citizen's death "will not be left without a reaction." 

Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council and Foreign Ministry have denied reports that Ukrainian law enforcement units shelled Russian territory. The National Security and Defense Council said that a great deal of proven evidence has been obtained indicating that militiamen fire at Russian territory and civilians in order to lay the blame on the Ukrainian military. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said it was ready to cooperate in probing the incident.

Moscow is considering a possibility of "pinpoint strikes" on Ukraine to retaliate against the bombardment of suburbs of Donetsk, Rostov region, Kommersant daily said, citing a source close to the Kremlin. The source said Russia "knew exactly where the gunfire was coming from." He noted that would not be a massive action but pinpoint strikes on the positions from where they were firing on Russia.

A similar idea has been suggested by Federation Council Vice-Speaker Yevgeny Bushmin, a representative of the Rostov region. In his opinion, precision weapons are able to stop shooting from the Ukrainian side.

Russia doesn't rule out 'selective' strikes on Ukraine – media reports

VOR,

14 July, 2014

Moscow is considering a possibility of "pinpoint strikes" on Ukraine to retaliate against the bombardment of suburbs of Donetsk, Rostov region, Kommersant daily said, citing a source close to the Kremlin. The source said Russia "knew exactly where the gunfire was coming from." He noted that would not be a massive action but pinpoint strikes on the positions from where they were firing on Russia.

A similar idea has been suggested by Federation Council Vice-Speaker Yevgeny Bushmin, a representative of the Rostov region. In his opinion, precision weapons are able to stop shooting from the Ukrainian side.

The suburbs of Donetsk, Rostov region, came under fire early on Sunday morning when the Ukrainian army and the militia were fighting for control over the Izvaryno border checkpoint. A shell fired from Ukraine blew up in the yard of 47, Baltiyskaya Street. The explosion killed local resident Andrei Shulyatyev born in 1967.

Another shell hit a nearby house and injured a mother and a daughter. The 82-year-old woman was taken to a hospital. Her condition is serious: she has bone fractures and a concussion.

Moscow considers shelling another aggressive act by Kiev against sovereign territory, Russians

The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned Ukraine's charge d'affaires in Russia on Sunday to present a strong protest over the shelling of Russian territory from the Ukrainian side of the border. The incident may have "irreversible consequences," the ministry warned in an official statement released on Sunday. Russia regards Sunday's provocation as "yet another act of aggression on the part of Ukraine against sovereign Russian territory and citizens of the Russian Federation," the statement says.

Earlier, shells fired from Ukrainian side hit several houses in the border town of Donetsk in Russia's southern Rostov region, killing one person and injuring two others.

Russia is considering a tough response in the wake of a shooting incident in its southern Rostov region where a shell fired from the Ukrainian side of the border hit a house, killing one person, Deputy Foreign Miniser Grigory Karasin said on Sunday.

"We are investigating the incident. It's a sign of a dangerous rise in tension on the border. This is a qualitatively higher degree of danger to our citizens… Therefore, our demarches will be tough and precise. But first, we need to clarify all the circumstances of the incident," the diplomat said.

On Sunday morning, one person was killed and two others wounded after shells fired from the Ukrainian side hit several houses in the town of Donetsk in Russia's southern Rostov region, bordering Ukraine.

Russia's Investigative Committee has launched a criminal case in relation to the death of a man in the Donetsk district of the Rostov region after a shell from Ukrainian territory exploded, spokesman for the committee Vladimir Markin told Interfax on Sunday.

The investigative department of the committee for the Southern Federal District launched a criminal group murder enquiry into the case of two or more persons acting in a manner dangerous to the public, he said.

Markin said that a shell flew into the yard of a private homestead in the town of Donetsk, Rostov region, on July 13, killing a man who was born in 1968. In addition, a woman was injured by the shock wave.