U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Yovanovitch: Russia crossed a threshold

“On Sunday, Russia crossed a threshold. Skeptics, naysayers, and Russian officials can no longer deny what we’ve long known: the strings controlling the puppets in this conflict – whether they are “little green men” or so-called separatists – can be traced straight back Moscow. In fact, Moscow has admitted its actions, and the first openly Russian-flagged attack against Ukrainian-flagged forces also brought the violence from the land to the sea. This attack represents a dangerous escalation and is part of a pattern of Russian malign activities,” U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch said during the 2nd International Maritime Security Conference in Kyiv, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

As the ambassador reminded, for almost five years Russia has fomented a war that has had more than 10,000 casualties; it has dialed up and down the violence to suit its own domestic political purposes. It has supplemented its military campaign with a variety of hybrid measures designed to destabilize Ukraine’s economy, society, telecommunications, and government.

 “All the while, Russia has tried to maintain the false pretense of being somehow uninvolved in this conflict. Russia predictably turned to its disinformation handbook: Russian officials provided over a dozen differing accounts of the events to confuse the public, the media, and foreign officials. Let there be no confusion. The facts are clear,” the ambassador underscored.

She reminded how Russia had detained Ukrainian sailors and seized Ukrainian ships and noted: “The attack and seizure were gross violations of international law, as was the pursuit by Russian ships through Ukrainian territorial waters off Crimea, an integral part of Ukraine’s sovereign territory. We call on Russia to de-escalate the tension that Russia has created, to return to Ukraine the detained crew members and its vessels.”

The U.S. ambassador emphasized that protecting freedom of navigation against Russian threats was paramount to protecting Ukraine’s economy and its people, as well as security and stability of the Black Sea region. She also assured that the United States would continue to stand with the people of Ukraine against Russian aggression.

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