Zero Hedge .....
Kiev Reports Ukraine Warplane Was Shot Down By A Russian Fighter Jet
While most news coming out of Ukraine regarding the ongoing civil war are merely propaganda designed to make Russia look bad, and hence irrelevant (and vice versa from Russia of course - the only news that matters re: Ukraine is i) what happens with gas deliveries to Europe via Ukraine and ii) the fate of the South Stream pipeline; the rest is mostly noise), it is perhaps a testament to how the global media will observe Russia's response to the latest US sanctions, and hardly improve risk appetite, that as Reuters reports a Russian jet shot down a Ukrainian SU-25 fighter plane that was on military operations over the east of Ukraine.
While we have yet to receive the official Kremlin denial of this major escalation in hostilities between the two countries, and one which would otherwise be grounds for war by Ukraine and thus essentially denies the report (since Ukraine did not declare war on Russia for rather obvious reasons), here are the alleged details:
It was the strongest Ukrainian allegation to date of direct Russian military involvement in the conflict. Russia's defence ministry declined to comment on the report.The plane was brought down on Wednesday night by a rocket strike and the pilot safely ejected, Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for Ukraine's national Defence and Security Council, told journalists.It was the third reported incident this week in which a Ukrainian plane has been hit by a missile.Kiev has said that an An-26 military transporter was brought down last Monday probably by a missile fired from Russia, either from the air or from the ground. Two out of the eight people on board that plane were killed, the Ukrainian military said.On Wednesday, another SU-25 was hit by a rebel missile but the pilot brought the plane down successfully with relatively slight damage. Kiev did not allege Russian involvement in that case.
Cue stern Russian denial in 5... 4... 3... even as Kiev continues to quietly syphon off transiting gas destined for Europe. And speaking of Russian gas heading toward Germany, keep a close eye on it - it may start to fluctuate in the near future.
Russia Today....
Russia: US sanctions revenge for Ukrainian failure, Moscow may retaliate
Russia considers the latest package of sanctions against it issued by the US as revenge for the failure of Washington’s schemes in Ukraine and blackmail. Moscow reserves the right to retaliate.
Moscow believes that America is targeting it with sanctions “because the events in Ukraine have not developed the way Washington scripted them,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
“The outrageous and groundless desire to blame Russia for the civil war in a neighboring country, which was caused by a deep internal crisis and already resulted in the loss of many lives, proves that the US and its clients in Kiev have failed to pacify the wide public dissent,” the ministry said.
Moscow said Washington is cynical in attempting to dodge responsibility for the bloodshed perpetrated by the Ukrainian troops in the east of the country, which the US is de facto encouraging.
The sanctions issued by the US on Wednesday won’t affect Russia’s position, the ministry warned.
“We’ve said on many occasions that speaking the language of sanctions to Russia is pointless, regardless of their scale. This path won’t lead to any positive outcome,” the statement said.“Those who believe in their own exceptionalism and claim the right to dictate their will to the world will be deeply disappointed.”
Russia warned that there is a price to be paid for targeting Russia with sanctions, and it would be American companies which would have to foot the bill for the White House. The Obama administration’s policies will deteriorate Russia’s relations with America in many regards, the ministry said.
“If Washington intends to ruin the Russian-American relations, it’s on their conscience,” the ministry said. “We won’t tolerate blackmail and reserve the right to retaliate.”
The new round of American sanctions against Russia targets a number of companies, particularly involved in arms production, energy and finance, as well as several Russian officials. The White House said it introduced the sanctions because Russia had failed to deescalate the crisis in Ukraine, where Kiev is waging a military crackdown on defiant regions of Donetsk and Lugansk, which formed armed militias and reject the central government’s rule.
Earlier Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that the sanctions would hurt America too.
“As for sanctions, they usually have a boomerang effect, and without a doubt will force US-Russian relations into a corner,” he explained. “This is a serious blow to our relationship. And it undermines the long term security interests of the US nation and its people.”
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