Russia military chief warns Ukraine against attacking rebels
ABC News
Russia's top military officer has sternly warned Ukraine against trying to reclaim control over separatist areas by force
MOSCOW -- Russia's top military officer on Thursday sternly warned neighboring Ukraine against trying to reclaim control over separatist areas by force, saying that Moscow will “suppress” any such attempt.
The statement by Gen. Valery Gerasimov, chief of the Russian military's General Staff, comes amid soaring tensions over a Russian troop buildup near the border with Ukraine that stoked Ukrainian and Western fears of a possible invasion.
A senior Russian diplomat doubled down on Gerasimov's warning by saying that the failure to stem the mounting tensions could push Russia and the West to a redux of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis that put the world on the verge of a nuclear war.
Tension briefly rose later Thursday when Russia’s Federal Security Service said a Ukrainian navy ship was heading toward the Kerch Strait between the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea, ignoring Russian coast guard vessels’ signals. The FSB charged that the Ukrainian Donbas ship’s maneuvering jeopardized navigation safety. The agency reported later that the ship changed course and sailed away from the Kerch Strait.
