By Julian E. Barnes and William Mauldin
WASHINGTON--The U.S. believes Russia is firing artillery across
its border at Ukrainian military positions, the State Department
said on Thursday, an assertion that Moscow is playing a more direct
role in the Ukrainian conflict.
The latest accusations show U.S. officials raising pressure on
Moscow and more closely examining Russian activities near the
rebel-held portions of eastern Ukraine since the downing of
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, which Washington blames on pro-Russian
separatist fighters.
State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf also said the U.S. has
evidence that Russia intends to deliver powerful rocket systems to
the pro-Russia fighters in Ukraine, but declined to provide details
about the systems or about how officials came to that
conclusion.
"We have new evidence that the Russians intend to deliver
heavier and more powerful multiple rocket launchers to the
separatist forces in Ukraine and have evidence that Russia is
firing artillery from within Russia to attack Ukrainian military
positions," Ms. Harf told reporters at a news briefing, calling the
findings "some pieces of info I've been able to get from our
intelligence friends."
Russia has repeatedly denied supporting the separatist fighters.
Moscow denounced as fantasy previous charges by Kiev that missiles
fired from Russia brought down two Ukrainian military planes on
Wednesday.
Defense officials said the U.S. still hasn't determined what
brought down the two Ukrainian fighter planes. Rebels have claimed
to have downed the plans with man-portable, shoulder-fired
missiles, known as manpads, and U.S. officials have said that is
possible.
Russia has been firing across the border into Ukraine for
"several days, " according to a senior U.S. defense official. The
U.S. has confirmed these strikes only within the last two days.
"For several days the Russians have been firing artillery into
Ukraine," said Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman. "This is
clearly a military escalation."
The senior defense official said the U.S. doesn't have complete
battle damage assessments, but said the strikes for the most part
appear intended to harass Ukrainian forces.
Nonetheless, the official said the attacks show Russia's intent
to provide broader support to the separatists. "It demonstrates
direct Russian involvement in Ukraine," said the official. "It does
up the ante."
Another defense official said the artillery fire began "about
the same time" the Malaysian airliner was shot down. So far, the
fire has all come from tube artillery and the U.S. doesn't have
conclusive intelligence that Russia has fired anti-aircraft rockets
into Ukraine.
Although used mainly to harass Ukrainian forces, U.S. officials
remain worried that a sustained artillery barrage by Russian forces
eventually could counter recent Ukrainian advances.
"Historically, artillery has been the biggest killer on the
battlefield, " said the second defense official. "If used
effectively, artillery can have a noticeable impact."
U.S. officials say the escalation by Russia is a risk and
represents a sign that Moscow is worried about the Ukrainian
government's counteroffensive against the separatists. Moscow, U.S.
officials say, is worried that if the separatists don't turn back
the Ukrainian government's advances, the separatist cause could be
severely damaged or even lost.
Russia has between 15,000 and 18,000 troops on the Ukrainian
border, but officials said there hasn't been a significant buildup
of firepower since the downing of the Malaysia Airlines jetliner.
Russian motorized infantry units all have artillery and rocket
launchers assigned to them.
The strikes, officials said, are a sign that Russian President
Vladimir Putin isn't going to back down in his support for the
separatists, even in the wake of the shootdown of the Malaysian
airliner.
Last week, the U.S. imposed a new type of sanctions targeting
the financing activities of some of Russia's biggest companies,
including Kremlin-controlled oil giant OAO Rosneft.
Since the Malaysia Airlines disaster, which killed scores of
Dutch nationals and other Europeans, leaders in the European Union
have also increasingly backed more serious sanctions against
Moscow. EU officials on Thursday were considering sharp
restrictions on Russian access to European financial markets and
exports of militarily sensitive goods to Russia, and officials were
also expected to impose sanctions on Russian individuals and
entities.
Write to Julian E. Barnes at julian.barnes@wsj.com and William
Mauldin at william.mauldin@wsj.com
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