Do a series of photos of gun-toting men wearing green uniforms prove Russian forces are operating in eastern Ukraine?
Ukrainian officials point
to the pictures in a dossier obtained Monday by CNN, arguing that the
images show Russian "sabotage-reconnaissance groups" acting in Ukrainian
towns.
The images, Ukrainian officials say, prove organized Russian activity in the region.
CNN cannot independently confirm the photographs, some of which were first published in The New York Times.
The dossier shows what
Ukrainian officials say are images of well-equipped gunmen in eastern
Ukraine who look similar to photographs of Russian forces taken in
Crimea, Russia and during Russia's 2008 invasion of Georgia.
Last week, Ukrainian
security officials told CNN they had arrested a Russian military officer
and a woman Ukrainian officials said is a Russian intelligence agent.
Moscow has disavowed involvement in the takeover of government buildings
in eastern Ukraine or other acts by often-masked pro-Russian gunmen.
But the photos, accepted
as genuine by the Obama administration, appeared to lend credence to
allegations by Ukrainian officials that Russian forces have been
dispatched in eastern Ukraine to provoke a military confrontation.
If genuine, the photos
also back up Western leaders who have claimed Russia's involvement. Last
week, NATO commander Gen. Philip Breedlove wrote on the alliance's blog
that what pro-Russian groups have described as an organic uprising is
in reality a "well-planned and organized" military operation
orchestrated by Moscow.
"There has been broad
unity in the international community about the connection between Russia
and some of the armed militants in eastern Ukraine, and the photos
presented by the Ukrainians last week only further confirm this, which
is why U.S. officials have continued to make that case," State
Department spokesman Jen Psaki told CNN on Monday.
The question of whether
Russia is involved in the unrest roiling eastern Ukraine is crucial as
European observers try to enforce an agreement reached last week to
lower tensions in the region by organizing the withdrawal of forces from
government buildings and other facilities.
Officials who brokered
the deal in Geneva said they hoped it would ease tensions. But there
were some signs Monday that tensions are mounting.
Residents told CNN that
armed militants seized the police station in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, late
Monday. The police station had been stormed on April 12 before being
handed back to local officials two days later.
Amateur video from the scene shows masked, armed men escorting the local police chief to a car after seizing the building.
The video, in addition
to the photos released by Ukrainian officials, seemed to show that at
least some forces in Ukraine show no sign of backing down.
Ukraine provided the
photos to those observers from the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe, according to the briefing dossier obtained by
CNN's Elise Labott.
One image shows a gunman
with a long beard during an assault on a police station in Kramatorsk
who appears similar to a Russian special forces member photographed
during the Russian invasion of Georgia.
Another shows gunmen
photographed occupying administrative buildings in Slaviansk who appear
similar to men pictured in what Ukrainian officials described as a
"family photo" of a Russian sabotage and reconnaissance unit.
Natacha Rajakovic,
deputy spokeswoman for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe, declined to comment on the images and referred questions to
Ukrainian authorities.
Ukrainians maintain that Russian involvement in the east is widespread.
CNN has heard Russian
accents among the "men in green," as they are known, well armed and
uniformed groups who have appeared in towns like Slaviansk and
Kramatorsk. One told CNN he had come up from Crimea. But CNN has not
seen any evidence that these men are operating under orders from the
Kremlin.
Russia's Foreign
Minister scoffed at the accusations, saying that Kiev and its patrons,
the United States and the European Union, are trying to blame his
country for everything.
Slaviansk's
self-declared mayor, a former military man himself, says the explanation
is simple: He put out an appeal to his old comrades.
"When I called on my
friends, practically all of whom are ex military, they came to our
rescue, not only from Russia but also from Belarus, Kazakhstan and
Moldova," he said.
Source:CNN
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