A top Ukrainian general has said his troops are “ready” for any Russian military assault as concerns about Moscow’s build-up of troops on the country’s borders increase.
His comments come as tensions between the countries also increase from the front line, after the Russian FSB security service said it had detained a Ukrainian diplomat because he had received sensitive information from a Russian citizen.
Russia has assembled tens of thousands of troops on the eastern border of Ukraine, including the deployment of tanks, rocket artillery and air defense systems. Moscow said it was in response to the implementation of NATO and suggested that the measures be temporary.
However, as part of Russia’s largest military build-up since 2014 – when Moscow annexed Crimea – the movements dreaded another invasion of Ukrainian territory.
Major General Viktor Ganushchak, the deputy commander of what Ukraine calls his joint troops operation, said his troops were prepared for the Kremlin’s next step.
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“We are ready for the assault if it happens,” he said, according to a briefing near the front line. The Telegraph“We can see the increase in the number of troops and equipment at our border, but we can not say for sure.”
“We can make no prediction. But they are bringing tactical groups for battalion to our border,” he added.
The arrest of Oleksandr Sosoniuk of the Ukrainian Consulate General in St. Petersburg contributed to the mistrust between Moscow and Kiev.
The FSB on Saturday said Sosoniuk was detained for obtaining classified information from FSB databases and law enforcement.
“The activity is incompatible with the status of a diplomatic worker and has a clear hostile character towards the Russian Federation,” the FSB said in a statement, according to the Tass news agency.
Russia has detained Ukrainian nationals on suspicion of spying, but detaining a diplomat is rare. As the news agency noted, diplomats have immunity under the Vienna Convention in the country in which they operate, but can be declared personal “in case of violation of the law or hostile conduct.”
Meanwhile, Russian sources from the Foreign Ministry told the newspaper Kommersantthat the envoy is likely to be expelled.
“The question is whether he will be declared persona non grata or whether it will be limited to a statement about the undesirableness of further stay in the country,” a source told the newspaper.
Ukraine’s deputy minister Yevhen Yenin has denied Russian allegations that Sosoniuk received secret information and told Ukraine’s 24 television channel that his detention was part of a “cruel provocation” against the backdrop of Russian troops, Hromadske reported.
Meanwhile, Oleg Nikolenko, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that the circumstances of the detention were being investigated and that Kiev was preparing a response, ‘RIA Novosti reported.
In a statement to Newsweek, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said: “We reject the allegations against the consular officer absolutely.”
“In response to this provocation, a senior diplomat of the Russian Embassy in Kiev was ordered to leave the territory of Ukraine within 72 hours, from April 19.”
This story has been updated to include a statement from the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry to Newsweek.