Tensions Climb on Ukraine’s Eastern Frontier

7/14/14
 
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from The Wall Street Journal,
7/13/14:

Kiev and Moscow Trade Accusations and Threats Over the Weekend about a death in Russia.

Moscow accused Ukraine of killing a civilian in a town inside Russia Sunday, in an incident that it said could carry “irreversible consequences” for Kiev as it stepped up air and artillery assaults on pro-Russian separatists over the weekend.

Ukraine denied responsibility for the shelling and suggested that pro-Russian militants may be to blame. It also accused Moscow of funneling fresh armor and supplies to rebels through its porous border over the weekend. Russian helicopters flew several kilometers into Ukraine on Saturday, and Russian drones entered its airspace on Sunday, a Ukraine military spokesman said.

After a brief lull, fighting has surged in eastern Ukraine following a deadly attack last week in which rebels used a truck-mounted rocket launcher, apparently brought from Russia, to destroyed an encampment of Ukrainian soldiers near the border, killing 19 and injuring 93.

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