14/03/2014 19:39
Moscow reaffirms right to defend Russians in Ukraine
Russia reserves the right to ensure the safety of all Russians in Ukraine, the country’s Foreign Ministry said Friday in a statement following clashes Thursday between demonstrators in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, RIA Novosti reported.
The statement echoed Moscow’s tried-and-tested tactic of citing concern over the safety of ethnic Russians and Russian passport-holders to justify military intervention in former Soviet countries, and signaled a possible expansion of the crisis in Ukraine, where Russian involvement has so far been confined to the country’s Crimean Peninsula.
Clashes in the eastern city of Donetsk on Thursday between pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian demonstrators led to at least one fatality and 26 people seeking treatment at area hospitals for injuries, according to local health officials.
Friday's statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry cited the events in Donetsk as evidence that Kiev’s new government was unable to maintain law and order and ensure public safety.
Masked soldiers lacking insignia but driving vehicles with Russian license plates and carrying weapons used by the Russian military have seized control of key infrastructure and military bases in Ukraine’s autonomous republic of Crimea in recent weeks, where a referendum on secession and annexation by Russia is scheduled for Sunday.