Russia claims Ukrainian sabotage, Putin rejects Donbas peace talks

The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) reported on Aug. 10 that it prevented acts of sabotage in Crimea (occupied by Russia since 2014) that it claims were prepared by the Main Reconnaissance Administration of the Defense Ministry of Ukraine. On the early morning of Aug. 7, a group of “saboteurs” near the city of Armiansk was arrested, during which a firefight allegedly killed an FSB agent, the report said. The sites targeted for attack by the “saboteurs”were “critically important infrastructure for the peninsula’s life support,” the report said. The goal of the attacks was to destabilize the social-political conditions in the region in a period of preparing and holding elections in federal and regional bodies, the FSB claimed.

The sabotage attempt allegedly involved 20 homemade explosives, armaments, mines, grenades and special arms, which are employed by special subunits of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the FSB alleged. Among the Russian and Ukrainian citizens arrested was 38-year-old Yevhen Panov, a resident of the Zaporizhia region who is alleged to have served the Defense Ministry. The FSB alleged two more sabotage attempts was made by “saboteur-terrorist groups” on the early morning of Aug. 8. The attempts were backed by “mass shootings from the neighboring state and armored hardware of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”

The same day, Russian President Putin claimed the Ukrainian government is resorting to terrorism, calling the sabotage attempt “a very dangerous game” and a provocation. He added that it would be “senseless” to participate in Normandy Format talks planned for Sept. 4-5 at the G20 summit in Hangzhou, China.

As its response, Ukrainian authorities denied planning any sabotage attacks and claimed the allegations were fabricated by the Russian government. As of Aug. 10, no employee of the Main Reconnaissance Administration has been arrested, contrary to Russians claims, Defense Ministry official Vadym Skibitskiy told local television. As for the claim the sabotage attempts were backed by Ukrainian fire, the official said the Russians would have announced such attacks already on Aug. 8. Moreover, they would have fired back, given the accumulation of military hardware in northern Crimea. “These fantasies are merely a pretext for the latest military threats against Ukraine,” said Ukrainian President Poroshenko.

Zenon Zawada: The Ukrainian government would have nothing to gain, and much to lose, from organizing a sabotage attack on Crimea. Meanwhile, the Russians have a long and rich history of manufacturing narratives and incidents of Ukrainian aggression, as well as fabricating criminal charges against Ukrainian activists. Taking into account these two factors, we can only conclude that this is the latest Russian hoax that is timed to achieve some short-term political aim. These aims are already apparent.

On the international arena, Putin has declared he would not participate in the Normandy format talks to resolve the warfare in Donbas. In this sense, he is flaunting his confidence and building his leverage with Western leaders, who have suffered politically from populist movements favored by the Russians, particularly the Brexit. He might eventually agree to participate, but with concessions from the West. We are confident that Putin is working behind the scenes to lift the sanctions imposed against his entourage through legislatures and elections, especially the U.S. presidential vote.

As more evidence of the hoax theory, the brother of Panov said he’s an electrical mechanic at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant who went on a weekend trip with his friends. He is confident that Panov, a Donbas war veteran, wasn’t traveling to Crimea, and could only have been kidnapped from Ukrainian territory by Russian agents.