Ukraine Places Its Forces on High Alert Due to Increased Tensions with Russia

Petro Poroshenko, the President of Ukraine, has ordered the Ukrainian armed forces stationed at the borders of Crimea and two eastern regions of the country to be on high alert due to rising tensions with Russia. According to the German news agency, Mr. Poroshenko wrote in a message on Twitter: "I have ordered all forces stationed near the borders of Crimea and the Donbas region to increase their combat readiness." Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, held a meeting of the Russian Security Council on Thursday, August 12, to review the situation in the region. Russia claims to have thwarted an attack by Ukrainian military forces on one of the critical infrastructures in Crimea in recent days. The Kremlin announced in a statement that the Russian Security Council approved measures to protect land borders with Ukraine and ensure the security of the air and maritime territories around it. The meeting was attended by the Prime Minister, Minister of Defense, and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia. In early 2014, in response to the overthrow of pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych due to popular protests in Kyiv, Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula and incorporated it into its territory. Shortly after the annexation of Crimea, an armed rebellion by pro-Russian separatists began in two eastern regions of Ukraine. Ukraine has consistently accused the Russian government of escalating the conflict by sending weapons and deploying armed forces to assist the rebels, but Russia has denied these allegations. The European Union states that it cannot confirm Russia's claims regarding Ukraine's attack on Crimea, as the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which monitors the crisis in eastern Ukraine, does not have access to Crimea. A spokesperson for EU diplomatic affairs stated on Thursday: "Russia's claims in this regard have not been confirmed by independent sources." He also added that the EU condemns the annexation of Crimea to Russia as an illegal act. The German news agency adds that the Federal Security Service of Russia announced on Wednesday that several men had been arrested along with 20 explosive devices, which were likely intended for the security section of the Ukrainian armed forces. The Federal Security Service's statement added that an officer of this agency and a Russian soldier were killed during an armed confrontation with Ukrainian forces. The President of Ukraine described Russia's claims as "a pretext for further military threats against Ukraine." Petro Poroshenko stated in part of his statement: "Russia's accusations regarding Ukraine's terrorist attacks on the occupied Crimea are as baseless and hostile as Moscow's claims about the absence of its military personnel in eastern Ukraine." The emergence of these claims and the escalation of tensions in Russia-Ukraine relations occur following an increase in armed clashes last month in eastern Ukraine. Last month's clashes were the deadliest military confrontations in the region in the past year.