Russian investigators have requested that five Ukrainian soldiers be arrested on suspicion of war crimes for what the Russian Investigative Committee describes as the "use of heavy offensive weapons of indiscriminate effect" when allegedy firing on the cities of Krasnopartizansk and Krasnodon in the Luhansk region of Ukraine.
The committee, in a statement posted on the Internet, named the individuals and identified them as a battalion commander, a tank battalion commander, a "headquarters chief," a squadron commander, and a deputy commander. The Russian Investigative Committee cited "testimony of other Ukrainian servicemen who served in this brigade," and said the five men denied the charges.
Here's AFP on the story:
Russian investigators said on Friday they had detained five Ukrainian soldiers on suspicion of war crimes in eastern Ukraine, after they crossed into Russia earlier this week.
The soldiers went across the border in a huge contingent of over 400 servicemen on Monday.
Moscow claimed they had surrendered and were switching sides but Kiev said they were forced to cross after running out of ammunition. Most of the men since gone back to Ukraine.
Investigators questioned the troops as witnesses in a probe into war crimes, charges which can carry penalties of up to 20 years in prison.
The investigators said they had proof that the solders used heavy weapons indiscriminately, wounding or killing at least 10 civilians and destroying 20 homes.
The alleged crimes took place between July 19 and August 3 in the Lugansk region of Ukraine, one of the areas gripped by fighting between the Ukrainian army and pro-Kremlin separatists, they said.
Hard to imagine this happening now, given the punitive import ban on the United States and Europe the Kremlin followed up with this week. But the Polish ambassador to Washington in this video appeal urgesthe U.S. to open its market to his country's apples, following the apple ban Moscow imposed on it last week (h/t @EdwardLucas). Now this just seems quaint.
RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reports that a suspect has been arrested in the attack on the Ukrainian House today in downtown Kyiv. Two people were reported injured, neither seriously, when the man threw an explosive device at the trade and exhibition center, where some of the Euromaidan protesters are still camped out despite authorities' efforts yesterday to clear the area. Eyewitnesses helped capture the suspect.
Some of Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk's statements at a news conference in Kyiv today about targeting Russian companies and Russian citizens in Ukraine with sanctions:
"According to the law, Ukraine has the right to introduce 26 types of sanctions, including: the freezing of assets; a ban on the activity of enterprises on Ukrainian territory; a ban on using radio frequencies, Internet, and other methods of communication; a ban on participation in the privatization of state-owned objects; a ban on owning licenses; [and] a full or partial ban on transit of all types of resources."
Speaking about whether sanctions could affect Russian gas transit:
"This includes the possible halting of all types of transit, from air flights to transit of resources."
And other related topics:
"I am also addressing our Western partners: it is impossible to provide weapons to those countries which later use these weapons against independent and democratic countries. Because then these weapons could be turned against the producers in the West."
"The visa ban is definitely not the most powerful action, but Russian authorities are not allowed to purchase any Ukrainian state-owned property. We are ready to suspend and to halt a number of licenses that we have granted to Russian companies. We are ready to provide a secondary screening and double-checking of all financial transactions of companies related to Russian Federation."
"We do understand that we as the state of Ukraine will pay the price too, but you guys are paying this price. We know what we are doing. This is the only way to protect and to defend our nation and our country. Be strong and be bold. This is the best remedy."
Since our own Brian Whitmore is off this week, it's a good opportunity to catch up with past episodes of his Power Vertical Podcast or give a listen to the latest of "The Interpreter's" occasional podcasts.
From AP:
The United States is warning Russia that any further intervention in Ukraine would be viewed as "an invasion of Ukraine."
U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power delivered the warning Friday at a Security Council meeting on Ukraine. It follows recent reports by the West and Ukraine's pro-Western government that accused Moscow of beefing up its military on the border, dispatching what NATO estimates is 20,000 troops to the frontier.
Power said if Moscow wants to send aid to pro-Russian separatists it should be delivered by neutral international organizations — not by Russians.
"Therefore any further unilateral intervention by Russia into Ukrainian territory, including one under the guise of providing humanitarian aid, would be completely unacceptable and deeply alarming — and it would be viewed as an invasion of Ukraine," she said.
The forensic team investigating MH17 victims' remains in the Netherlands has so far identified 23 people, AP reports, quoting the country's Justice Ministry. Those identified so far are 18 Dutch nationals, two Malaysians, a Briton, a Canadian, and a German.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed into law a parliamentary bill (approved on July 22) that raises the maximum age of reservists for military service by five to 10 years, depending on rank, the presidential website says.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has accused Kyiv in a "comment on the crashed cease-fire in Ukraine" of harboring plans to suspend a cease-fire in the 20-kilometer area around the MH17 crash site, and said the Ukrainian actions "cause anxiety."
There has been no confirmation from Ukrainian authorities of any interruption in the cease-fire in that area, despite fierce fighting elsewhere against pro-Russian separatists.
Yesterday an announcement by Kyiv suggested fighting could resume until the next phase of on-the-ground investigation into the Malaysian airliner's downing. But a subsequent statement said "the order of the President of Ukraine for a cease-fire in the area of the search operation is continuing."