Russian military has been tasked with developing appropriate response to Ukraine's alleged terror plot in Crimea
At the Russian Security Council Meeting on the incident in the Crimea on Thursday, August 11th, the relevant ministries and agencies were tasked to develop and propose specific steps regarding Ukraine in response to alleged actions of "Ukrainian saboteurs" on the peninsula, as reported by Vedomosti, quoting a source close to the Ministry of Defense.
The newspaper’s informant reported that the Security Council of the Russian Federation has identified measures to strengthen security on the peninsula, but has not agreed on appropriate measures in response to actions of "sabotage" in the Crimea.
According to a person close to the Russian Ministry of Defense, a powerful "response" in the form of military strikes against Ukraine has not been considered. At the same time, the source close to the "leadership" of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic intimated that Moscow may stop restraining the DPR military’s counter actions in response to alleged "continued artillery shelling" from Ukrainian servicemen. According to him, such restraint was already relaxed in spring this year.
According to the Director General of the Russian International Affairs Council, Andrey Kortunov, Russian statements are addressed to the West rather than Kiev.
"It’s a certain type of leverage on the position of the West if a base of evidence is collected. That gives a reason to call on the West to increase pressure on Kiev but now we see that the West has already made statements about the absence of evidence and has expressed mistrust,” he explained.
According to Vice President of the United States Joseph Biden, America is closely monitoring all developments around the Crimean provocation, which is exclusively Russia's responsibility.