Moscow warns west over Ukraine strikes in Russia

Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova speaks in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Apr. 28, 2020. Turkey had warned Russia in advance before moving to bar Russian planes from flying to Syria over its territory, the Russian Foreign Ministry said

Maria Zakharova, a spokesperson for Russia’s ministry of foreign affairs, accused western states of “aggression” and of “using” the Ukrainian leadership to carry out its aims.

She also singled out UK armed forces minister James Heappey who said earlier this week that it was “legitimate” for Ukraine to strike inside Russia. Moscow claimed the minister was calling on Ukraine to use weapons provided by Nato.

“We would like Kyiv and western capitals to take seriously the statement by the Russian ministry of defence that further provocation prompting Ukraine to strike against Russian facilities will be met with a harsh response from Russia,” she said.

“Advisors from Western countries staying in Ukraine’s decision-making centres will not necessarily be a problem for Russia’s response measures. We do not advise to continue trying our patience.”

It was a follow-up to comments from President Putin who said on Wednesday that his response would be “lightning fast” should the west interefere in its “special military operation” in Ukraine.

Further straining tensions, a Ukrainian presidential aide said on Thursday that the world recognises his country has a right to defend itself by carrying out attacks on Russian military bases and warehouses.

Writing on Twitter, Mykhailo Podolyak said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken – who visited Kyiv last week – said Ukraine must decide whether to strike Russian military bases.

“Russia has attacked and (is) killing civilians. Ukraine will defend itself in any way, including strikes on the warehouses and bases of the killers. The world recognises this right,” presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak wrote.

It comes as Moldova’s pro-Russian breakaway region of Transnistria raised its terrorist threat level on Tuesday after two blasts damaged Soviet-era radio masts and reported that shots were fired from the territory of Ukraine overnight towards a village that houses a large ammunition depot.

The region’s interior ministry also said that it had detected drones that it said were launched from Ukraine.

UK foreign secretary Liz Truss called on western allies to send tanks, warplanes and other heavy weapons to Ukraine, saying fears of escalating the war were misplaced and “inaction would be the greatest provocation.”

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“This is a time for courage, not caution,” among nations helping Ukraine fight Russia’s invasion, Ms Truss said.

“Heavy weapons, tanks, airplanes — digging deep into our inventories, ramping up production. We need to do all of this,” Ms Truss said during an annual foreign policy speech at Mansion House.

In response to the foreign secretary’s comments, however, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, said on Thursday that giving Kyiv heavy weapons would threaten the security of the European continent.

“In itself, the tendency to pump weapons, including heavy weapons, to Ukraine and other countries are actions that threaten the security of the continent and provoke instability,” Mr Peskov told reporters.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said more and heavier weapons need to be supplied to Ukraine

“We need to be prepared for the long term… there is absolutely the possibility that this war will drag on and last for months and years,” Stoltenberg told a youth summit in Brussels.

Russia has also accused the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) of handing information on the location of Russian and pro-Russian forces to western and Ukrainian intelligence, further frustrating the Kremlin.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova made the allegation during a briefing with reporters but did not provide evidence for it. She said investigators from the self-proclaimed breakaway Donetsk People’s Republic, which is backed by Russia, would provide additional proof.

The OSCE has a monitoring mission in eastern Ukraine, where Russian-backed separatists have been fighting the Ukrainian army since 2014.