Ukraine president orders military units towards enhanced preparedness

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko ordered Ukrainian military units positioned near the Crimean border and along the Donbas conflict line to shift into enhanced combat preparedness. He gave the order during an Aug. 11 meeting with top security officials, reported the Presidential Admnistration website.

In his turn, Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed “additional security measures” to prevent “terrorist acts on the Crimean peninsula, his press service reported on Aug. 11. In addition, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement that “the damage caused to the Russian side, and deaths of Russian soldiers, won’t remain without consequences.”

The EU Representative in Ukraine has no evidence to confirm the Aug. 10 claims by the Russian government on alleged sabotage attempt by Ukrainian agents in northern Crimea, reported the eurointegration.com.ua news site. The U.S. also has no evidence, tweeted U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt. “It is not the first false accusation against Ukraine that Russia puts forward to deflect attention from its own unlawful acts,” he tweeted.

Zenon Zawada: For years, we have reported on the Russian government’s capability of manufacturing any pretext to launch new campaigns of military aggression.  Incredibly enough, there is a risk of intensified warfare that could result from what is widely believed to be a hoax involving so-called Ukrainian saboteurs, which in reality is being reported as a kidnapping of one of those accused saboteurs (Yevhen Panov) from Ukrainian territory.

We reported two days ago that we see no pragmatic advantage for Russia to unleash a new round of aggression in Ukraine, considering its current hot streak in the voting booths of the West. Yet in light of the events in the last few days, we can’t rule out that the Russians will manufacture a military conflict to gain even more diplomatic and political leverage. It’s worth noting that August seems to be the favorite month for Russian aggression, considering the Ossetian war of 2008 and the Ilovaisk slaughters in Ukraine of 2014.