WASHINGTON, July 27 (RIA Novosti) - The US State Department unveilled Sunday intelligence data, confirming the Department's prior claims of Russia shelling the Ukrainian territory, as well as Washington's firm conviction that Russia is supplying heavy artillery to the independence forces.
The US report is a collection of four satellite images dated July 20-26, 2014 that "provide evidence that Russian forces have fired across the border at Ukrainian military forces, and that Russia-backed separatists have used heavy artillery, provided by Russia, in attacks on Ukrainian forces from inside Ukraine."
The first slide, according to the State Department, shows the "ground scarring at a multiple rocket launch site on the Russian side of the border oriented in the direction of Ukrainian military units within Ukraine." The second one supposedly shows the location of the "self-propelled artillery only found in Russian military units, on the Russian side of the border, oriented in the direction of a Ukrainian military unit within Ukraine." The third image is a "close-up of the artillery strike," from the territory of Russia, according to the US State Department. The final slide "shows ground scarring at two multiple rocket launch sites oriented in the direction of Ukrainian military units," which presumably "indicates fire from multiple rocket launchers."
Earlier on Sunday, the Russian Defense Ministry said international inspections had not registered any violations on part of Russia on the border with Ukraine. Some 18 international inspection teams have visited Russia’s border areas with Ukraine over the last four months in the framework of the Vienna Document 2011 and the Treaty on Open Skies, including representatives of the United States, NATO, and Ukraine. The groups carried out aerial surveys of the indicated areas and visited military units, concluding there have been "no violations or undeclared military activity."
Moscow has repeatedly dismissed accusations of interfering in Ukraine’s affairs saying that Russia is not a party in the internal Ukrainian conflict, with Russian Foreign Ministry labelling the claims as "far-fetched insinuations" against Russia. Moscow also has repeatedly stated that it is not supplying weapons to the militias, and no Russian military or any other special units are present in the east of Ukraine.
