The Daily Vertical: Russia Accused Ukraine Of What?! (Transcript)

The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect the views of RFE/RL.

So how's this for irony?

Russia's Investigative Committee has just opened a criminal case against officers of Ukraine's Security Service for -- get this -- using "illegal means and methods of war."

Yeah, you heard that right.

The country that invaded Ukraine; annexed part of its territory; occupied, destroyed, and devastated another part of its territory; and kidnapped its citizens -- that country is now accusing Ukraine of using "illegal means and methods of war."

If nothing else, you gotta admire their chutzpah.

So what exactly is Russia accusing Ukraine of doing?

WATCH: Today's Daily Vertical

According to the Investigative Committee and Moscow-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv has sent a team of seven teenage terrorists into the occupied areas of Donetsk Oblast to carry out acts of sabotage.

Earlier this week, separatist leaders in Donetsk released a videotape of the youths being detained and confessing.

Now if all that sounds familiar, it's because it is.

Just last month, the Kremlin accused Ukraine of sending agent-saboteurs to the annexed Crimean Peninsula to carry out terrorist attacks.

There was no real evidence and the story was so full of holes and contradictions that it quickly fell apart and nobody took it seriously. And this time around, the evidence looks just as flimsy.

So here we go again.

As Russia continues to wage an illegal war in Ukraine, it is again accusing Ukraine of using illegal methods in defending itself.

Keep telling me what you think on The Power Vertical's Twitter feed and on our Facebook page.