Ukraine says Russia is trying to turn Crimea into ‘an isolated military base’

Ukrainian defense officials have accused Moscow of transforming Crimea into “an isolated military base.” These remarks come in response to allegations by the Russian Federal Security Service that Ukrainian intelligence agents infiltrated Russian-controlled Crimea with the objective of bombing “critical infrastructure,” in order to destabilize the territory ahead of parliamentary elections next month.

“Representatives of Russian intelligence are trying to divert the attention of the local population and the international community from [Moscow's] criminal effort to transform the peninsula into an isolated military base,” said a spokesperson for the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, arguing that the FSB's allegations are a smokescreen intended to “justify the redeployment and aggressive actions of [Russian] military units” in Crimea.

Ukrainian officials have denied any involvement in an alleged terrorist plot reportedly prevented by Russian intelligence agents at the Crimean border this weekend.