U.S. images reveal rockets fired from Russia

Moscow has angrily denied all allegations that weapons shot from its territory

WASHINGTON— The U.S. stepped up pressure on Moscow on Sunday by releasing satellite images it says show that rockets have been fired from Russia into neighbouring eastern Ukraine and that heavy artillery for pro-Russian separatists has crossed the border.

The images, which came from the U.S. Director of National Intelligence and could not be independently verified by The Associated Press, show blast marks where rockets were launched and craters where they landed. Officials said the images show heavy weapons fired between July 21and July 26 — after the July17 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 that killed all 298 on board.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian armed forces mounted a major onslaught against pro-Russia separatist fighters Sunday in an attempt to gain control over the area where the jet was downed. Reports of the intensifying unrest prompted a postponement of a trip to the site by a team of Dutch and Australian police officers that had planned to start searching for evidence and the remaining bodies.

The four-page memo is part of the Obama administration’s push to hold Russia accountable for its activities in neighbouring Ukraine, and the release could help to persuade the United States’ European allies to apply harsher sanctions on Russia. The timing of the memo also could be aimed at dissuading Russia from further military posturing. The Pentagon said recently the movement of Russian heavy-calibre artillery systems across its border into Ukraine was “imminent.” Moscow has angrily denied allegations of Russia’s involvement in eastern Ukraine. Russia’s foreign ministry over the weekend accused the U.S. of conducting “slander against Russia.” U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke by phone Sunday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, urging him to stop the flow of heavy weapons and rocket and artillery fire from Russia into Ukraine, said a State Department official. Kerry did not accept Lavrov’s denial that heavy weapons from Russia were contrib- uting to the conflict, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details of the call. The U.S. images claim to show multiple rocket launchers fired at Ukrainian forces from within Ukraine and from Russian soil. One image shows dozens of craters around a Ukrainian military unit and rockets that can travel more than 11 kilometres. The memo said one image provides evidence that Russian forces have “fired across the border at Ukrainian military forces and that Russianbacked separatists have used heavy artillery provided by Russia in attacks on Ukrainian forces from inside Ukraine.” Another satellite image depicted in the memo shows “ground scarring at multiple rocket launch sites on the Russian side of the border oriented in the direction of Ukraine military units within Ukraine.”

“The wide areas of impact near the Ukrainian military units indicates fire from multiple rocket launchers,” the memo said.

Moreover, the memo included a satellite image that it called evidence of self-propelled artillery only found in Russian military units “on the Russian side of the border oriented in the direction of a Ukrainian military unit within Ukraine.”

Separately, the New York Times reported Sunday that defence and intelligence officials were working on a plan that would enable the Obama administration to give Ukraine specific locations of surface-to-air missiles controlled by Russian-backed separatists for the Ukrainian government to target.