Anna Laba, RIA Novosti Ukraine

Poroshenko put the army on alert on the borders with Crimea and Donbass

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko on Thursday put all units of security forces on heightened combat readiness along the demarcation line in Donbass and in the area of ​​the administrative border with Crimea. Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Viktor Muzhenko that Kyiv has increased its military forces on the administrative border with Crimea as part of the announced increase in combat readiness.

Putin convened the Russian Security Council over the situation in Crimea

Russian President Vladimir Putin with members of the Russian Security Council take additional security measures for citizens and infrastructure facilities in Crimea in connection with a terrorist attack on the peninsula prevented by Russian special services. At the meeting, additional measures were discussed to ensure the safety of citizens and vital infrastructure facilities in Crimea in connection with the prevention of a terrorist attack on the peninsula by the Russian special services.

Poroshenko initiated a conversation in the Normandy format with the participation of the United States

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's Ministry of Foreign Affairs will organize telephone conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the leadership of Germany and France in the trilateral Normandy format, as well as with US Vice President Joseph Biden and President of the European Council Donald Tusk after the events in Crimea, Poroshenko's website reported on Thursday .

Yelchenko: The UN Security Council supported the territorial integrity of Ukraine

The United Nations Security Council held an emergency meeting due to Russian accusations of “sabotage” by Ukraine. The meeting was held behind closed doors. The Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UN, Vladimir Elchenko, said that the country thanks “the Security Council for unconditionally and without question confirming a strong position regarding respect for the territorial integrity and independence of Ukraine, taking into account Crimea.”

The OSCE confirmed the deaths of civilians during shelling in Donetsk

The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) previously reported reports of deaths and injuries to civilians in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic during shelling, the SMM report said. A representative of the Kalinin morgue in Donetsk told the observers that on August 9 they received the bodies of two men, 55 and 60 years old, who died due to blood loss as a result of multiple shrapnel wounds.

Troyan: A case has been opened “into the kidnapping of Panov”

Acting head of the National Police of Ukraine Vadim Troyan said that criminal proceedings have been opened against the driver of the Zaporozhye NPP bus from Energodar, Evgeniy Panov. The proceedings were opened following a request from his relatives, which was received by law enforcement agencies on August 10.

Poroshenko announced the start date of e-declaration

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko said that he intends to get tough with corruption in the country, therefore he expects the full operation of electronic declaration of assets of officials to begin on August 15. “Corruption must be eradicated, but it is even better to prevent it... From the shadows into the light, which people have been waiting for for a long time, mansions, car parks, the money of all “servants of the people” must come out,” Poroshenko said.

The prosecutor's office opened a case over the "Wall" project on the border with the Russian Federation

The Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAP) of Ukraine opened a criminal case into the implementation of the "Wall" complex of defensive structures on the border with the Russian Federation, on Thursday the head of the department, Nazar Kholodnitsky. In 2016, 200 million UAH are provided for the implementation of the action plan for the engineering and technical arrangement of the Russian-Ukrainian state border, of which 60 million have already been received.

An explosion occurred in Odessa - police

In Odessa on Friday, on Tiraspol highway, 68, it thundered, reports the press service of the regional department of the National Police of Ukraine. The explosion occurred at 5:10 am, resulting in damage to a Volkswagen Polo car. An investigative team, an explosives service and the State Emergency Service are working at the scene of the incident.

Cholera was discovered in a number of cities in the Zaporozhye region

Cases of cholera in the Zaporozhye region, reports the press service of the Zaporozhye Regional Laboratory Center of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine. Cholera-like vibrios were isolated from five people, of which: two residents of Berdyansk and one patient each in the cities of Zaporozhye, Melitopol and Berdyansk region. Victims from Berdyansk, Melitopol and the Berdyansk region associate their illness with swimming in open water.

Trump accused Obama and Clinton of creating ISIS

US presidential candidate from the Republican Party Donald Trump to Barack Obama in the creation of the terrorist group "Islamic State" (IS). According to the Republican candidate for the top US post, Barack Obama is the founder of the Islamic State, and Hillary Clinton is a co-founder. Trump's statement was made in Florida.

A series of explosions occurred in tourist areas in southern Thailand

A series of six explosions rocked Thailand's tourist areas on Friday morning, leaving one person and at least five injured. According to local media, two explosions each occurred within an hour of the traditional morning flag raising at police stations and posts in the city of Surat Thani, as well as on the island of Phuket and in the resort town of Hua Hin.

The Federal Security Service issued an official message with details about attempts by Ukrainian special forces to “break through sabotage and terrorist groups” into Crimea. As a result, a Russian serviceman died.

“The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation prevented the commission of terrorist acts in the Republic of Crimea, prepared by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the targets of which were identified as critically important elements of the infrastructure and life support of the peninsula,” says a message on the FSB website.

“Attempts to break through were covered by massive shelling from a neighboring state and armored vehicles of the Ukrainian armed forces”

The purpose of sabotage and terrorist acts was to destabilize the socio-political situation in the region during the preparation and holding of elections of federal and regional authorities, the department reports.

As a result of operational search activities, on the night of August 6-7, 2016, a group of saboteurs was discovered in the area of ​​the Crimean city of Armyansk. During the detention of terrorists, a Russian FSB officer died as a result of fire contact. At the site of the clash, 20 improvised explosive devices with a total capacity of more than 40 kilograms of TNT, ammunition and special initiation means, standard anti-personnel and magnetic mines, as well as grenades and special weapons used by special units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were discovered.

The measures taken on the territory of the Crimean Peninsula have eliminated the intelligence network of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Citizens of Ukraine and Russia who assisted in the preparation of terrorist acts and who gave confessions were detained. One of the organizers of the prevented terrorist attacks is Evgeniy Aleksandrovich Panov, born in 1977, resident of the Zaporozhye region, employee of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, who was also detained and confesses.

On the night of August 8, 2016, special forces of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine made two more attempts to break through sabotage and terrorist groups, which were prevented by the security forces of the Russian FSB and interacting departments. Attempts to break through were covered by massive shelling from the neighboring state and armored vehicles of the Ukrainian armed forces. During the fire contact, a Russian serviceman was killed.

Based on the results of operational search and combat activities, the investigative department of the Federal Security Service of Russia for the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol opened a criminal case. Additional operational and investigative measures are being carried out.

Additional security measures have been taken in places of public gathering and recreation, as well as to protect critical infrastructure and life support facilities. The border regime on the border with Ukraine has been strengthened.

At the same time, a representative of Ukrainian intelligence attempted to break through the military into Crimea.

Earlier, online media sources reported that on the night of August 7, several militants from Ukrainian territorial battalions on the border of Crimea with Ukraine opened fire with automatic weapons on Russian border guards. It was reported that as a result, one serviceman was killed and two more were wounded (according to other information, three Russian soldiers were killed). The Russian side did not respond to this, since supposedly on the Ukrainian side “there were tanks that took direct fire from the border post.” At the same time, a sabotage group broke into Crimea. Later, some of the saboteurs were neutralized.

According to emerging data, the Internet was turned off in the north of Crimea, additional forces were deployed to the former border with Ukraine, and the number of police cordons on the roads increased.

Ukrainian media reported that a group of saboteurs allegedly made their way to Crimea through dried salt marshes on Lake Sivash. At the same time, Ukrainian sources refused to call the saboteurs agents of Kyiv, claiming that they were “Russian deserters.”

In an exclusive article, Kommersant reports that it learned the details of the interrogation of saboteurs detained in Crimea, after which the media named the target of the saboteurs detained in Crimea. During interrogation, the detainees said that they were preparing a series of explosions at the resort in order to sow panic among vacationers and thereby “kill tourism” on the peninsula.

Relations between Russia and Ukraine deteriorated sharply the day before. The reason was an attempt by two groups of saboteurs to penetrate Crimea, where, according to the FSB, an entire network of agents was already operating, preparing high-profile actions. Two Russian officers were killed in the clashes and several people were injured.

It is known that Vladimir Putin commented on attempts to carry out terrorist attacks in Crimea. The president said that the Ukrainian authorities had switched to the practice of terror and promised not to ignore the death of the military, calling the meeting in the “Normandy format”, which was supposed to take place in September in China, meaningless. The Russian President also called attempts to carry out terrorist attacks in Crimea “a stupid and senseless action.”

Terrorist attack in Crimea, August 2016

According to the FSB, two armed incidents occurred in the north of Crimea, in which agents of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine participated. Kommersant's sources said that on the night of August 7

a group of seven armed men, who were dressed in Soviet-style camouflages, were transported across the Perekop Bay in inflatable boats and landed in the Armyansk area. This group was somehow able to bypass all the border posts, but a couple of kilometers from the coast the saboteurs were discovered by a group of FSB Vympel special forces officers who participated in covering a difficult section of the border. There were only three special forces, so they called the border guards for help, and only then tried to detain the violators. As a result, a shootout ensued, during which one of the special forces was fatally wounded. Two opponents were also killed, the five survivors were detained, writes Kommersant.

It is reported that most of the detainees were residents of Crimea, and some had Russian passports with them, the authenticity of which is being established.

The special operation of the Russian FSB in Crimea, the video of which is now being searched on the Internet, has yielded results. The detainees said that they collaborated with the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, where they received sabotage training. The detainees said that they were part of one of several groups sent by Ukrainian intelligence to Crimea. The terrorist attacks, according to them, were directed against the tourism business of the peninsula, and not against the leaders of the republic or its industrial facilities.

News about Crimea reported that the saboteurs were going to organize a series of small explosions at various points of the resort, which should not have led to the death of people, but caused panic among vacationers and ultimately “kill tourism.”

The explosives were to be delivered by a second group going a different route. While the operation to detain the second group was being prepared, information about the shootout in the Armyansk area appeared in the local media. Perhaps it was from there that the members of the second group realized about the problems of the first group and lay low. The search operation, carried out all day on August 7, did not bring any results.

The saboteurs were discovered on the night of August 8 by paratroopers from the 247th Airborne Assault Regiment. They were sent to the north of Crimea to strengthen anti-terrorist measures. The group was discovered when it was heading towards the shore of Sivash. From there, apparently, the suspects were planning to reach Ukraine via the Dead Sea. A firefight ensued, in which both sides suffered casualties. Several paratroopers were wounded. One of them - a bullet hit him in the neck above his bulletproof vest - was killed.

“At the scene of the collision, 20 improvised explosive devices with a total capacity of more than 40 kg of TNT, ammunition and special means of initiation, standard anti-personnel and magnetic mines, as well as grenades and special weapons, which are in service with special units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, were discovered,” the report says. official message from the FSB press service.

The department called the purpose of sabotage “destabilization of the socio-political situation” in Crimea on the eve of elections to the State Duma and municipal councils. The leader of those detained in the FSB was named Ukrainian citizen Evgeniy Panov, born in 1977, who is a career employee of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

RIA Novosti writes that Ukraine is ready at any moment to convene an extraordinary meeting of the UN Security Council on the situation around Crimea. Kyiv's permanent representative to the UN, Vladimir Yelchenko, told reporters about this.

Yelchenko, whose speech was broadcast on the UN website, called Russia’s statements about preparing terrorist attacks in Crimea a provocation.

“We are ready for any further provocations and are considering the possibility of convening a meeting of the UN Security Council,” he said. According to the permanent representative, “if necessary, this will be done immediately.”

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko also reacted to what was happening. His statement said that Russia’s accusations of terrorism against Ukraine are “senseless and cynical.” The president called Moscow's statements that Kyiv was preparing terrorist attacks in Crimea as fantasies, which are “only a pretext for further military threats against Ukraine.”

“Ukraine strongly condemns terrorism in all its manifestations and forms and, accordingly, rejects the practice of using any terrorist measures to stop the deoccupation (literal quote – ed.) of Crimea,” Poroshenko emphasized.

In addition, Petro Poroshenko again accused Russia of supporting “terrorism” in the Donbass and Crimea and said that Moscow would not be able to discredit Kyiv in the international arena and achieve the lifting of Western sanctions. He also assured that Kyiv intends to achieve the return of Crimea “exclusively by political and diplomatic means.” Lenta ru writes about this.

About the terrorist attacks prevented in the Republic of Crimea (RK), prepared by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine (GUR MOU). The intelligence service emphasized that the targets of the attacks “were identified as critical elements of the infrastructure and life support of the peninsula.” The saboteurs intended to destabilize the socio-political situation in the region “during the preparation and conduct of elections of federal and regional authorities.” A Russian border guard and a serviceman of the Russian Ministry of Defense were killed in clashes with a sabotage group. Rumors of sabotage on the border of Crimea with Ukraine spread on Sunday, August 7. The media cited sources, but there have been no official comments until today. Lenta.ru recalls the chronology of events.

Where it all started

On the morning of August 7, Komsomolskaya Pravda in Crimea, citing a source in law enforcement agencies, said that a group of Ukrainian saboteurs attempted to commit sabotage on the border with the Crimean peninsula in order to break into the territory of the region. Residents of the city of Armyansk, bordering Ukraine, in northern Crimea, told the publication that they heard shooting. They also clarified that armored personnel carriers are driving around the city and military personnel are walking around in bulletproof vests. “There are rumors that one of the border guards was killed,” the newspaper’s interlocutor said then.

Around the same time, official Kyiv announced a temporary suspension of the passage of people and cars through all three checkpoints on the border with Crimea, which in turn led to the blocking of road traffic between Ukraine and the peninsula. It was clarified that such measures were taken in response to the actions of the Russian side, which allegedly suspended similar operations. A few hours later, traffic resumed. There have been no official communications from Russia.

Residents of Crimea spoke about strengthening control at all traffic police posts on the peninsula. Local media, citing patrol service inspectors, noted that the anti-terrorist operation “Anaconda” was being carried out in the republic and the federal city of Sevastopol. Control at the Kerch ferry crossing has also been seriously strengthened. The waiting time in line due to the thorough search of cars and passengers reached 10 hours.

Late in the evening of the same day, social networks were discussing a new shootout on the territory of the peninsula, not far from the Chongar checkpoint. And again - a complete lack of official information. On the morning of Monday, August 8, the Sevastopol publication Notes, again citing an anonymous source in the security forces, reported: “Unfortunately, this night history repeated itself: again there was shooting, and again one person died. This time on Chongar.”

The Crimean department of the border service of the FSB of Russia, where Lenta.ru immediately turned to for comments, neither confirmed nor denied this information. “Unfortunately, I cannot comment on this matter. If there is an official press release, we will send it to you,” explained department press secretary Marina Boenko. The press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Republic of Crimea also answered Lenta.ru that the department has no information about the shootout on the border or any security operations carried out on the peninsula.

Meanwhile, an orientation was published on social networks, allegedly signed by the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Sergei Abisov, with the following content: in the territory of Armyansk, five persons are wanted for committing a serious crime, traveling both by car and on foot, dressed in camouflage uniforms. It was noted that the camouflage “has chevrons depicting the flag of the Russian Federation with a rhombus located at the bottom.” The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan refused to comment on the reliability of the orientation to Lente.ru.

How Ukraine reacted

If the Russian side remained silent from the very beginning (it is now clear that it was important not to frighten off the network of contactees and take the sabotage group as quickly and alive as possible), then Kiev, apparently realizing that the operation had failed, hysterically gave out a variety of versions of what was happening on the border with Ukraine is the territory of the peninsula. The versions were each brighter than the other.

Thus, Lenur Islyamov, the same coordinator of the energy and food blockade of Crimea, who threatened the Russian region with an invasion of his Crimean Tatar battalion, as well as a naval blockade, that Russia, in his opinion, was conducting military exercises near the administrative border. “We heard machine gun fire on the other side, we saw several helicopters moving along the border,” he said.

And the speech of Kyiv’s representative in the security subgroup of the trilateral contact group on Donbass, Yevgeny Marchuk, was simply absurd. Marchuk noted that the activity of the Russian military in Crimea is aimed at disrupting the celebration of the 25th anniversary of Ukraine's independence (celebrated on August 24).

Deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Anton Gerashchenko put forward an even more exotic hypothesis. “A number of soldiers deserted from a Russian military unit, along with weapons, there was a shootout, and they are now catching their deserters, because they are worried that deserters could get into the territory of Ukraine and become valuable sources of information about the situation in Crimea and about the morale of Russian troops, so they are worried that these guys don’t end up in Ukraine. And for this they are blocking entry and exit to Crimea,” he stated with full knowledge of the matter.

Photo: Viktor Korotaev / Kommersant

Meanwhile, the fighting spirit of Ukrainian talking heads was strengthened as best they could by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). On Tuesday, August 9, the press secretary of the General Staff, Vladislav Seleznev, said that units and equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were being drawn up to the border with the peninsula. “Work is being carried out to quickly and effectively respond to the situation that may arise in connection with possible aggressive actions by the Russian side,” he clarified.

What really happened

While in Kyiv they were practicing their eloquence, probably convincing themselves that the Ukrainian side had nothing to do with the events that unfolded in the border areas of the peninsula, the special operation was in full swing. According to Lenta.ru sources, the chain of contactees from Crimea who helped the sabotage group began to be taken on August 7. And on August 10, the FSB described in detail how the attack on the Russian region was being prepared. Here is the full text of the intelligence agency's statement:

“The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation prevented the commission of terrorist acts in the Republic of Crimea, prepared by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the targets of which were identified as critically important elements of the infrastructure and life support of the peninsula. The purpose of sabotage and terrorist acts is to destabilize the socio-political situation in the region during the preparation and conduct of elections of federal and regional authorities. As a result of the operational search activities carried out on the night of August 6-7, 2016, a group of saboteurs was discovered near the city of Armyansk in the Republic of Crimea. During the detention of terrorists, a Russian FSB officer died as a result of fire contact. The following were found at the site of the clash: 20 homemade explosive devices with a total capacity of more than 40 kilograms of TNT, ammunition and special initiation means, standard anti-personnel and magnetic mines, as well as grenades and special weapons in service with special units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The measures taken on the territory of the Crimean Peninsula have eliminated the agent network of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Citizens of Ukraine and the Russian Federation who assisted in the preparation of terrorist acts and who gave confessions were detained. One of the organizers of the prevented terrorist attacks is Evgeniy Aleksandrovich Panov, born in 1977, resident of the Zaporozhye region, employee of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, who was also detained and confesses.

On the night of August 8, 2016, special forces of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine made two more attempts to break through sabotage and terrorist groups, which were prevented by the security forces of the Russian FSB and interacting departments. Attempts to break through were covered by massive shelling from the neighboring state and armored vehicles of the Ukrainian armed forces. During the fire contact, a serviceman of the Russian Defense Ministry was killed. Based on the results of operational search and combat activities, the investigative department of the Federal Security Service of Russia for the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol opened a criminal case. Additional operational and investigative measures are being carried out.

Additional security measures have been taken in places of public gathering and recreation, as well as to protect critical infrastructure and life support facilities. The border regime on the border with Ukraine has been strengthened.”

What is GUR MOU

The main military intelligence agency of Ukraine was formed in 1992-1993 during the transformation of military intelligence structures inherited from the Soviet army. Initially, an intelligence department of the General Staff was created, based on the bodies and structures of military intelligence of the Kyiv, Odessa and Carpathian military districts. Basically, the powers of the SD concerned the reconstruction and debugging of the work of intelligence services of the branches of the armed forces of Ukraine (ground forces, air force and navy).

In parallel with the SD, on September 7, 1992, a military strategic intelligence department was created, in which they decided to concentrate the overall planning of intelligence work, as well as the information and analytical component and the preparation of materials for the military-political leadership. The department was headed by Alexander Skipalsky, a native of the KGB military counterintelligence (special officer). Both structures were merged into the Main Directorate of Military Intelligence in July 1993 (since 1994 - the Main Directorate of Intelligence, GUR).

Functionally, the GUR is an analogue of the intelligence of the armed forces in the form in which it existed in the USSR and in which it exists in Russia (in the form of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff). Under a single roof, on the one hand, strategic intelligence regarding the military and industrial-technological potential of a potential enemy is brought together, and on the other, the vertical intelligence structures of the armed forces, including special forces.

The latter include two special forces regiments - the 3rd separate special forces regiment in Kirovograd (formerly the 10th separate special forces brigade of the Soviet army from Old Crimea) and the 8th in Khmelnitsky (formerly the 8th separate special forces brigade). There is also a 10th special forces detachment in Kyiv. In the Nikolaev region, near Ochakov, the 73rd naval special operations center will be deployed, combining the training and organization of special forces of the Ukrainian Navy. Since January 2016, these units have been consolidated into the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

We are innocent

Preparation of terrorist attacks - this will be worse than blocking the entry of food trucks from Ukraine into Crimea and undermining power lines in the Kherson region, as a result of which the peninsula was cut off from power on the night of November 22, 2015. Therefore, Kyiv, of course, hastened to disown all this. The General Staff spoke first. The same Seleznev, who just yesterday was “pulling military equipment to the border to counter Russian aggression,” provoked the FSB’s statement about an attempted sabotage in Crimea. “These events began to develop on the morning of August 7, and literally immediately on social networks... messages appeared that supposedly from the Ukrainian side some sabotage and reconnaissance groups had penetrated the territory of occupied Crimea and were carrying out some tasks. We immediately responded to this by informing that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are in certain areas, at certain strong points and are carrying out tasks as planned,” he said.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) also responded immediately. “Ukraine does not seize or return its territory by force, and will not do this,” Yuri Tandit, adviser to the head of the SBU. Ukrainian intelligence also denies an attempt by the military to break into Crimea. “This is false information,” said a representative of the MOU GUR.

You can deny anything now. However, all moves are recorded. Including on video.

President's reaction

On the evening of August 10, Russian President Vladimir Putin saw the latest events on the peninsula. “On the Russian side, during the prevention of terrorist attacks in Crimea, two servicemen were killed, we will not pass by this,” the head of state said. Putin also called the attempt to carry out terrorist attacks in Crimea a stupid and criminal act and noted that Ukraine, instead of looking for ways of a peaceful settlement, switched to the practice of terror. In conclusion, the president stated that after what happened on the peninsula, “it makes no sense under such conditions to meet in the Normandy format in China.”

Something unprecedented happened in the modern history of Russia. Saboteurs from Ukraine fought and invaded the sovereign territory of the Russian Federation.

Alarming information came from various sources several days ago, but official explanations, including a personal comment from the President of Russia, followed only on the 10th.

A message published on the website of the Federal Security Service of Russia states that the FSB prevented terrorist attacks in Crimea, prepared by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. As a result of the operational search activities carried out on the night of August 6-7, a group of saboteurs was discovered near the city of Armyansk in the Republic of Crimea. During the detention of terrorists, a Russian FSB officer died as a result of fire contact. “At the site of the clash, 20 improvised explosive devices with a total capacity of more than 40 kg of TNT, ammunition and special initiation means, standard anti-personnel and magnetic mines, as well as grenades and special weapons used by special units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were discovered.”

This prevented the commission of terrorist acts in the Republic of Crimea, prepared by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the targets of which were identified as critically important elements of the infrastructure and life support of the peninsula. The purpose of sabotage and terrorist acts is to destabilize the socio-political situation in the region during the preparation and conduct of elections of federal and regional authorities.

The intelligence network of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry has also been liquidated on the territory of Crimea. Citizens of Ukraine and the Russian Federation who assisted in the preparation of terrorist acts were detained and have already given confessions. One of the organizers of the prevented terrorist attacks is a certain Evgeniy Panov, born in 1977, a resident of the Zaporozhye region, an employee of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, who was detained and confesses.

Also on the night of August 8, special forces of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry made two more attempts to break through sabotage and terrorist groups, which were prevented by the security forces of the Russian FSB and cooperating departments. Attempts to break through were covered by massive shelling from the neighboring state and armored vehicles of the Ukrainian armed forces. During the fire contact, a serviceman of the Russian Defense Ministry was killed.

A criminal case has been opened. Additional operational and investigative measures are being carried out. Security measures have been taken in places where people gather and relax, as well as to protect critical infrastructure and life support facilities. The border regime on the border with Ukraine has been strengthened.
Vladimir Putin at a press conference following negotiations with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said:

“There are losses on the Russian side, two servicemen were killed. We, of course, will not ignore such things. I would like to address our American and European partners. I think it is obvious to everyone that today’s Kyiv authorities are not looking for a way to solve problems in negotiations, but are turning to terror. This is a very worrying thing."

“At first glance, this would seem to be a stupid and criminal action. It is stupid because it is impossible to positively influence the people living in Crimea, and it is criminal because people died. But I think the situation is even more alarming, because there is no other point other than diverting the attention of one’s own people from the plight of the economy, from the plight of a significant number of citizens,” the president explained.

V. Putin also declared the pointlessness of a meeting in the Normandy format, given the background of the detention of saboteurs in Crimea. Let us remember that this was planned on the sidelines of the G20 in China.

“Apparently, those people who seized power in Kyiv at one time and continue to hold it, instead of looking for ways of a peaceful settlement, switched to the practice of terror. In this regard, I cannot help but remember, and in the same context we are considering, the attempt on the life of the leader of the Lugansk People's Republic. Now there is an attempt to penetrate the territory of Crimea,” said V. Putin.

Thus, a clear signal was sent to Petro Poroshenko and his clique, which recently refused to accept the candidacy of the new Russian Ambassador to Ukraine.

What messages do we read in the statements of the Russian President? Firstly, there is a direct reminder and indication of the illegitimacy and criminal nature of the current Kyiv government, as well as the plight of the citizens of Ukraine, who are being robbed by the current government. Secondly, strictly speaking, it does not matter who gave the command to the Ukrainian saboteurs to break into Crimea, Poroshenko himself or this was done without his knowledge. In any case, he is incompetent. Thirdly, the LPR is openly called, without mincing words or the epithet “self-proclaimed”.

Everything that happened and was said by the President of the Russian Federation suggests that in the foreseeable future the situation may radically change not only with the “Normandy format”, but also with the “Minsk-2” format, long ago transformed by the Ukrainian side (participants - Irina Gerashchenko, Marchuk and Kuchma ) to simulated “Minsk gatherings”.

We also emphasize that the person whom the FSB accuses of preparing terrorist attacks is a member of the executive committee of the city of Energodar, Zaporozhye region. The media report that Evgeniy Panov previously worked as a driver in the transport department at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant; after the change of power in Ukraine and the aggravation of the situation in the east of the country, he went to fight as a volunteer, and returned a year later.

Perhaps Pan Panov's involvement in the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant is a reason for bringing the issue of nuclear safety of Europe and Russia to the UN Security Council?

Let's tell you in a little more detail how it all happened. Information about the shootout on the border appeared in some media as early as August 7, but there was no official confirmation. Russia has closed checkpoints on the border with Ukraine; Eyewitnesses reported shooting in the Armyansk area (the city is located right next to the border), residents of the border towns of Armyansk and Dzhankoy wrote on social networks about the accumulation of military equipment.

The battle on the border took place around five in the morning. According to unverified data from a Crimean blogger, there were about 20 people in the group of saboteurs; Some of them managed to go back to Ukraine.

During August 7 and the following days, the operation of checkpoints across the border was limited. In Armyansk, Dzhankoy, Krasnoperekopsk, armed Russian soldiers and armored vehicles appeared on the streets, and helicopters patrolled the sky. Residents also reported massive Internet outages in northern Crimea.

Rossiyskaya Gazeta reported that the saboteurs intended to undermine the Simferopol-Yalta highway during the movement of motorcades of the republican leadership and federal authorities.

Some Russian media call Lake Sivash, which partially dries up in the summer, as the route of penetration of sabotage and terrorist groups on August 8, and “Ukrainian armored personnel carriers even entered the water of Sivash to cover their saboteurs with fire.” The Dnepr-1 battalion and visiting “guest performers” - Wahhabis from ISIS - were brought to the border on the Ukrainian side. The Islamist forces turned out to be very significant. The concentration of equipment, including MLRS, continues in close proximity to the border with Crimea.

On August 9, the text of an orientation letter sent by the Minister of Internal Affairs for the Republic of Crimea, Sergei Abisov, to the heads of the Crimean territorial bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs appeared online. The orientation indicated that five people of athletic build, armed with firearms, dressed in camouflage uniforms with chevrons in the form of the flag of the Russian Federation, were wanted for committing a serious crime on the territory of Armyansk.

In response to the escalation of the conflict in Perekop by the Ukrainian side, the Russian army moved an adequate amount of armored vehicles and manpower to the north of Crimea.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense denies involvement in the preparation of a terrorist attack on the peninsula. And adviser to the head of the SBU, Yuri Tandit, emphasized that Ukraine is not trying to return Crimea by force, since “it already belongs to Ukraine.”

Ukrainian People's Deputy, Advisor to the Chief of the General Staff of Ukraine Dmitry Yarosh said that the events in Crimea remind him of the beginning of World War II.

Yarosh also cited military actions in the Donbass and the recent procession of Ukrainian believers who held a religious procession, encountering resistance from Ukrainian radicals, as signs of the impending threat of world war.

A response also arrived on the website of the President of Ukraine, where P. Poroshenko called “accusations by the Russian side of Ukraine of terrorism in the occupied Crimea” senseless and cynical. Since “Ukraine strongly condemns terrorism in all its manifestations and forms and, accordingly, rejects the practice of using any terrorist measures to de-occupy Crimea.”

Further, in the style of current Ukrainian propaganda, Poroshenko’s statement shifts the blame to Russia, which “has long been generously funding and actively supporting terrorism on the territory of Ukraine, raising it to the level of its state policy.” Pan Poroshenko demands that Russia “focus on conscientious compliance with the fundamental norms of international law” and ensure “proper implementation of the security aspects of the Minsk agreements, including through the use of the mechanisms of the Normandy format.”

All these statements by Ukrainian officialdom are illogical. As Donbass resident Vladislav Brig notes: “First you discuss how you will blow up the energy bridge, block the Kerch Strait, destroy the bridge, blow up power lines, and then tearfully howl to the whole world that it was the Kremlin who staged a provocation in Crimea.”

Columnist Eva Merkuryeva sarcastically notes: “In every way, Ukrainian officials sing the sad song “They attacked themselves” with the refrain: “We are not bulls, We are not bulls, We were not there... No one reports bravo about unprecedented heroism unprecedented "Crimebergs". They are afraid. Since the chant does not stick - there are real people who died as a result of a clash with Ukrainian saboteurs .

The “they killed themselves” version will not work. Surely the FSB has more than just the letters of the official message. And in Kyiv they know about this. That’s why they are hysterical in unison. It looks like new unknown times are coming for Kyiv.

Ukraine quite predictably got into outright terrorism with the most real terrorists.”

Political scientist Vladimir Kornilov also expressed his bewilderment: “I read the panicky comments of Ukrainian figures and the media about saboteurs in Crimea. Their essence can be boiled down to approximately the following phrase: “Crimea is Ukraine, which means that Ukrainians have every right to commit terrorist attacks there without asking the permission of the occupiers.” ... Well, that is, it’s clear, right? Bombing the cities of a country that you consider yours, killing citizens of your country, sending terrorists to the territory of Crimea, which you still consider yours, is from the point of view of a true Ukrainian... not terrorism at all. Do I understand correctly, from the point of view of this “logic”, the French citizens who cut the throat of a French priest in Normandy are not terrorists at all? After all, the terrorist attacks were committed in their own country.”

Andrei Babitsky in the article “Crimea: Unlearned lessons of the second Chechen war” draws a parallel between the attempt of the Ukrainian DRG to break into Crimea and the raid of militants Basayev and Khattab into Dagestan in 1999. Chechen militants and Ukrainian radicals are united by the belief that Russian military power is a colossus in feet of clay And the desire to let off steam inside, exporting instability outside. This was an extremely poor, provincial understanding of the essence of the concessions that Boris Yeltsin made, but by that time Chechnya had already been virtually excluded from the all-Russian context for a couple of years and turned in on itself. The Chechens were completely blind and were no longer able to assess the real parameters of the force that they wanted to provoke into conflict, despite the fact that tens of thousands of Chechen men served in the Soviet army.

The situation between the two wars in Chechnya is reminiscent of the one in which Ukraine finds itself today. Both in Chechnya and in present-day Ukraine, the usual way of life and the structures of everyday life that had been built over the years were almost completely destroyed. The scale is, of course, different - the chaos in the neighboring republic does not yet seem so total. But for Ukraine, which was relatively prosperous in pre-war times, today’s decline in living standards, loss of control, explosive growth in crime, poverty into which the majority of the population has fallen is a catastrophe subjectively comparable to the Chechen one.

Just as then in Chechnya, in Ukraine, in the conditions of administrative and economic collapse, internal destructive energy gained strength. “A poor republic, stuffed to the brim with weapons that were used in every, even the most insignificant conflict,” - who is this talking about? About Chechnya in 1999 or about Ukraine in 2016?

Attempts to break into the territory of Crimea may turn out to be the first signs - the likelihood that this may still be only an intuitive impulse, poorly understood even by the organizers and executors, to give vent to the entropy growing inside the country is not at all zero, the expert concludes.

Residents of Ukraine hear every day on TV from the most senior politicians and military officers, not to mention figures of lesser rank, that the Ukrainian army is by far the most combat-ready in Europe. That is, the idea that the main thing is to lure the Russians to oneself through provocations, and then dump them indiscriminately on mother earth, could have arisen “in the bright, non-brotherly heads” at a faster pace.

But this is not 1999. The combat effectiveness of Russia's law enforcement agencies and units is such that Russia's restless neighbors have little to hope for.

Vice Speaker of the State Council of Crimea Remzi Ilyasov reasonably stated that the penetration of saboteurs into the territory of the peninsula can be regarded as a declaration of war.

Human rights activist Larisa Shesler notes on Facebook: “What happened on the isthmus does not look like a provocation, but a typical casus belli. Not just a group of unknown terrorists, but a military unit supported by heavy military equipment from Ukrainian territory attacked Russian security forces. With victims. They spoke harshly to Erdogan about much less. True, there are certain notes of hope in Putin’s intonations.”

First Deputy Head of the Russian State Duma Committee on International Affairs Leonid Kalashnikov said that “Ukraine has long been communicating with us as enemies, and we still hang out with them, like with a sister who had a fight with us for a while. Everything that happens in Crimea, one way or another, is already beyond the scope, since it is carried out at the state level. I think that now in this regard it is necessary to prepare certain actions by the President, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the government.”

The precedent with Ukrainian saboteurs on the Russian-Ukrainian border in Crimea means that Kyiv is preparing an “election war with Russia” at the request of adventurers from the US intelligence services with the goal of Hillary Clinton winning the presidential election in November, Russian political scientist Sergei Markov is convinced.

In his opinion, published on Facebook, Russia should neutralize these attempts. The political scientist also provides a plan of action that Moscow should take in the current situation. "1. Mobilize the army. In the event of an attack, Ukraine must know that its troops will be completely destroyed. State it; 2. Convene the UN Security Council and discuss this threat of “election war.” Everyone in the world has seen the movie The Tail Wags the Dog, and everyone is watching the intense, borderline election campaign in the United States. Therefore, although in words they call this nonsense, in reality everyone will completely perceive this as a real scenario. Make the “pre-election war” scenario as public as possible; 3. Announce in all media that a possible war in Crimea is the work of Washington and their desire to change the election situation in the United States in favor of Hillary Clinton; 4. Appeal to the governments of NATO countries to influence their allies - the United States. NATO countries are full of reasonable people who believe that the United States is off the charts in its adventurism; 5. Appeal to the US Congress, which is dominated by Republicans, with a request to restore order in its intelligence agencies. There are many reasonable people in the US Congress and many who hate Obama and Clinton; The alternative is to do all this unofficially or semi-officially.”

Some observers, combining the Crimean incidents of the coming nights, the assassination attempt on the head of the LPR Plotnitsky, the activation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the demarcation line in Donbass and on the borders with the Voronezh and Rostov regions, “alarming messages from Nagorno-Karabakh”, come to the conclusion: the United States decided to demonstrate that there are no negotiations they are not going to lead. In other words, it becomes clear that the above-mentioned negotiation formats - Normandy and Minsk - are useless. That is, in view of the American election tsutswang, the masks have been dropped, there is no longer any possibility of delaying time.

Indeed, it is difficult to escape the impression that the situation has descended into political zugzwang. The hurrying “partners,” who are themselves in tsutswang, are already feverishly trying to deprive Russia of space for political maneuver, pushing it onto a narrow “path of action.”

http://www.stoletie.ru/tekuschiiy_moment/terakty_v_krymu__objavlenije_vojny_614.htm