Ukraine dismisses Russian claims of attacks on separatists backed by Moscow

Ukraine on Monday has dismissed Russian accusations that they attacked two Russian-backed separatist enclaves and called the claims disinformation, according to The Washington Post. 

Ukrainian Minister of Information Policy Oleksandr Tkachenko told reporters that the reports of explosions were false and the mass evacuation ordered Friday by the pro-Moscow separatist leaders was contrived to mislead people, the Post added.

Tkachenko added that Russia was manufacturing lies about Ukraine shelling the separatist enclaves in eastern Ukraine to create a false “picture of war.”

Russia’s FSB security service said on Monday that a shell fired from Ukrainian territory had destroyed a border guard post in Russia’s Rostov region but that there were no casualties, Reuters reported.

The newswire added that Russian state news agency RIA shared video footage published by the FSB, which showed that a small guard post had been destroyed.