By: Earnest Jones | 02-02-2017 | News
Photo credit: Gage Skidmore / Flickr

Russia Denies Shooting at Ukrainian Military Plane In Black Sea

Tensions between Russia and Ukraine are escalating, especially in East Ukraine, where over the past couple of days, the number of soldiers killed in an offensive by Pro-Russian separatists has reportedly risen to seven. In a report issued by Ukraine’s military on Monday, the recent attacks have been the deadliest outbreak of fighting in the east of the country since last year.

The conflict between the Pro-Russian separatists and the Ukraine’s military coincide with the U.S. President Donald Trump’s call for better relations between Moscow and Washington, this has alarmed Kiev as the conflict in its eastern region remains unsolved.

Ukraine sources indicate that the rebels began attacking government positions in the eastern frontline town of Avdiyika on Sunday. The attack claimed five soldiers while nine were wounded on Sunday and two more were killed on Monday.

The Ukrainian military spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk reported that the situation in the vdiyika industrial zone is challenging as the enemy continues to fire at the Ukraine military positions with heavy artillery and mortars. Both local separatist news agencies and Russia denied that the escalation had occurred due to the biased coverage from both sides.

In a report issued by the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, An-26 transport plane came under rifle fire from a Russian drilling rig while flying near the Odessa gas field in the Black Sea, it appears that the conflict is bound to escalate as another conflict is building.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak report to President Petro Poroshenko that a Ukrainian transport plane came under fire while flying over the Ukrainian maritime economic zone during a training mission. Fortunately, the crew members were not injured.

It’s no surprise that the Russian Black Sea Fleet categorically denied the claims. In a statement issued by an official from the Black Sea Fleet’s headquarters, all Ukrainian claims of the alleged shooting at the An-26 plane are absolute lies. The statement also added that the Ukrainian An-26 military plane carried out two provocative approaches at extremely low altitude to Russia’s Tavrida and Crimea-2 drilling platforms.

The official also revealed that during the plane’s second approach, a security guard at one of the platforms fired four signal flares to prevent a possible collision of the plane with the platform’s mast.

This comes amid the join Naval drills of the seven North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member states with the Ukrainian Naval Forces in the Black Sea that kicked off on Wednesday.

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