Equipo Nizkor - S/2016/704 - Statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia on the prevention of terrorist attacks by Ukrainian special services in Crimea.

United Nations
Security Council

S/2016/704

Distr.: General
11 August 2016
Original: English

Letter dated 11 August 2016 from the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council

I have the honour to forward to you the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation on the prevention of terrorist attacks by Ukrainian special services in the Republic of Crimea.

I should be grateful if you would circulate the present letter and its annex as a document of the Security Council.

(Signed) Vitaly Churkin

Annex to the letter dated 11 August 2016 from the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council

[Original: Russian]

Statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation dated 11 August 2016

The Federal Security Service (FSB) forces of Russia have prevented terrorist attacks from being carried out in the Republic of Crimea. The attacks, planned by the Chief Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, targeted critical elements of infrastructure and essential services on the peninsula. The Russian intelligence services believe that the purpose of these planned acts of sabotage and terrorism was to destabilize the sociopolitical situation in the region during the period of preparations for, and the holding of, federal and regional elections.

A group of saboteurs were discovered near the town of Armyansk on the night of 6 to 7 August. While apprehending the terrorists, one Russian FSB officer was killed in the shootout. Explosive devices with a total charge of over 40 kilograms of trinitrotoluene (TNT) equivalent, munitions, grenades, landmines and other special weapons were found at the scene. Special units of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine made two further attempts to infiltrate the territory of the Republic of Crimea in the early hours of 8 August, but the groups of saboteurs and terrorists were intercepted by Russian FSB and other forces. The attempted incursions were shielded by armoured vehicles of the Ukrainian armed forces and by heavy firing from inside Ukrainian territory. One serviceman from the Russian Defence Ministry was killed during the firefight.

Russia has consequently taken action to dismantle the network of agents of the Ukrainian Defence Ministry's Chief Directorate of Intelligence in the Republic of Crimea. Ukrainian and Russian citizens who aided in the preparation of the terrorist attacks have been detained. These include Yevgeny Aleksandrovich Panov and Andrey Romanovich Zakhtey. They are all providing confessions.

We have repeatedly brought to our partners' attention that the current authorities in Kiev have no interest in searching for a peaceful solution to the problems in Ukraine, are not ready to compromise, and intend to resolve issues that arise through the use of force, which now includes terrorism.

The current situation — with attempted incursions into Crimea, the recent attempt on the life of Igor Plotnitsky, the Head of the Lugansk People's Republic, the constant firing along the line of contact in Donbass, and the actions of radical nationalists and so -called "activists" from around Ukraine that go beyond the bounds of any lawful framework — are a vivid illustration of the state of affairs in Ukraine today. The numerous provocations, efforts to portray Moscow as the enemy, and the deliberate cultivation of anti-Russian sentiments are nothing more than an attempt by the authorities in Kiev to distract their own people from the dire situation in the country and the problems affecting the majority of the population in Ukraine. There is a clear desire to divert public attention away from the actions and responsibility of those who are now in power and their inability to carry out long overdue reforms or conduct an honest investigation into the murders of journalists and human rights activists and the crimes committed in 2014 during the Maidan protests, in Odessa, Mariupol and other cities.

The Ukrainian authorities are making unfounded claims in a bid to deny what is evident and once again shift the responsibility for their own actions to someone else, even the United Nations Security Council — anything to avoid taking meaningful steps to normalize the situation.

We call on our partners, whose efforts play a large part in keeping the current regime in Kiev in power, to show common sense and finally get their Ukrainian wards to end their constant provocations and fulfil their obligations in accordance with Minsk Agreements on a political settlement in Ukraine.

Mr. Poroshenko constantly touts the "unconditional support from the United States, the North Atlantic Trade Organization and the European Union" in his "fight to return annexed Crimea". The West's indulgence of this rhetoric has undoubtedly played a negative role in the Ukrainian leadership's criminal decisions to organize armed provocations in Russian Crimea. If the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was involved in these decisions, he will have driven the final nail in the coffin of the peace process. If these decisions were taken without his knowledge, then that is even worse. Inaction by the Kiev authorities in the face of growing militaristic rhetoric and violent acts, planned and executed by so -called volunteer battalions and other extremists, is cause for grave concern.

We hope that Western capitals will draw the appropriate conclusions.

Attempts to destabilize the situation in Russian Crimea are doomed to fail. Stability and security in the Republic of Crimea will be ensured by Russia unconditionally.

We should also caution Kiev and its foreign backers that any harm to Russia or the death of Russian military personnel will not go unanswered.

As President Vladimir Putin noted on 10 August, given the current situation and until we see real positive steps from Kiev, renouncing its policy of terror and provocations, there is little sense in holding a "Normandy format" meeting, especially in early September in Beijing as requested by Mr. Poroshenko recently.

Once again, we call on our partners to use their influence with the authorities in Kiev to dissuade them from taking any dangerous steps that could have the gravest consequences. Playing with fire is dangerous.

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11Aug16

Statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia on the prevention of terrorist attacks by Ukrainian special services in Crimea