Russia state-affiliated media is reporting that a Ukrainian drone strike has killed a pro-Russian fighter in Donbas, in Eastern Ukraine. News of the alleged attack emerged less than an hour after President Putin accused the United States of failing to meet any of Russia’s conditions concerning NATO expansion.
“One person has been killed Tuesday, according to the head of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR),” RT reports.
Military personnel 'killed' after Ukrainian drone strike on the frontline in Eastern Ukraine
One person has been killed Tuesday, according to the head of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic (DPR). (Reports)
— RT (@RT_com) February 1, 2022
The Ukrainian side has not confirmed the strike or the accuracy of the Russian media reports, which is still in question.
Russia’s TASS is detailing additionally that “A soldier of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) died on the line of contact in Donbass as a result of an explosion of a device dropped from a drone. This was announced on Tuesday by the head of the republic Denis Pushilin.”
Separatist officials appear to be the ones making the fresh allegation, which if true could spark a major flare-up in fighting, given tensions have already been at boiling point for weeks:
“A few hours ago, a drone dropped an explosive device, our serviceman died, this information has not even made it into the report,” he said on the air of the Rossiya-1 TV channel . Pushilin stressed that there are a large number of foreign journalists near the contact line, which allows us to expect new informational provocations.
Further the Donetsk official accused Ukraine of heightening its drone warfare against the separatist rebels:
According to him, the Ukrainian side is jamming some of the drones, trying to hide the movement of equipment and prevent violations that are committed daily by Kiev from being included in the reports. “Ukraine is launching its own drones, and the goals are clear and obvious. And alas, this is not only intelligence,” Pushilin stressed.
Given it remains unverified, the report has yet to create much of a ripple effect either in markets or official political pronouncements from the West.
A Turkish military drone of the type supplied to Ukraine’s army of late, Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Earlier in the afternoon, coming off a long meeting in Moscow with Hungary’s Viktor Orban, Vladimir Putin announced, “We did not see our three key demands adequately considered: stopping NATO’s expansion, refusing to use strike weapons systems near Russian borders, and returning the bloc’s military infrastructure in Europe to how it was in 1997.”
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