Ukraine | Poroshenko puts troops along Crimean border on combat alert

Russian President Vladimir Putin

Ukraine’s president ordered the army to be on combat alert yesterday on the country’s de-facto border with Crimea and on the front line in eastern Ukraine following Moscow’s accusations that Ukraine sent in “saboteurs” to carry out attacks in Crimea.
Russian President Vladimir Putin upped the ante when he directly accused the Ukrainian government of plotting the attacks and called a meeting of the country’s top brass yesterday to discuss boosting security in Crimea following reports of the foiled attacks.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on his official Twitter account also yesterday that the army will be put on combat alert not only on the de-factor border with Crimea but also the line of contact in eastern Ukraine, where both sides were supposed to have pulled
Russia’s main domestic security agency said that one of its agents and an army soldier were killed while fending off what it described as a series of attempted terror attacks by Ukrainian “saboteurs” in Crimea, a claim Ukrainian officials denied.
Putin condemned what he described as a “stupid criminal action” by the Ukrainian authorities and vowed to take additional steps to ensure security of Crimea.
Poroshenko rejected the Russian claims as “fantasy” and “provocation,” saying in a statement that his government would use only political and diplomatic means to restore its sovereignty over Crimea.