Crimean sabotage: whose and against whom?

"New Gazeta" collected versions of what happened in Crimea

Stop frame with a video, the Center for Public Relations of the FSB of Russia. RIA Novosti

FSB version No. 1
"Attempt for first persons and elections"
Published: FSB website, Rossiyskaya Gazeta
On August 10, the FSB published on its website a message that the “sabotage-terrorist groups”, equipped with fighters of the “special forces of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine”, tried to break through the Russian-Ukrainian border in two places. “The breakthrough attempts were covered by massive shelling from the adjacent state and armored vehicles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. During the fire contact, a soldier of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation died, ”the FSB said. The aim of attacks was to “destabilize the socio-political situation in the region during the preparation and conduct of elections of federal and regional authorities.”
On the evening of August 10, a large publication with the details of the alleged terrorist attack appeared in the Rossiyskaya Gazeta. According to the publication, on the night of August 8, another group of saboteurs tried to break into the peninsula from Ukraine in dry places of Lake Sivash, but they were met by the FSB special forces and the Russian Ministry of Defense. “The breakthrough attempts were covered by massive shelling from Ukraine and the armored vehicles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. According to the RG, the Ukrainian BTR even went into the water of Sivash to cover their saboteurs with fire, ”the newspaper writes.
Representatives of the FSB told the publication that saboteurs were going to "undermine the Simferopol -Yalta highway during the movement of the motorcade of the leadership of the republic and the federal authorities." But as a result of the special operation, the entire agent network of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine was liquidated, the Chekists assured.
The organizer of the attacks was named a 39-year-old resident of the Zaporizhzhya region Yevgeny Panov, whom the RG calls an employee of Ukrainian intelligence. According to the Ukrainian radio station "Vesti", this is a Ukrainian military in retirement and a participant in the ATO who worked at an NPP in Energodar. Panov’s friends told Vesti that neither family nor acquaintances had any connection with Panov within three days before his detention. At the same time, the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that Panov’s wife filed an application for his abduction, and the police launched an investigation.

FSB version No. 2
"Kill tourism"
Published: "Kommersant"
On the morning of August 11, Kommersant published another version of what happened, referring, however, to sources in the FSB. The publication reported that on the night of August 7, a group of seven armed people in camouflage uniforms of the Soviet model crossed the Perekop Bay in inflatable boats, landed in the Armenian area and crossed the Russian-Ukrainian border. The group was intercepted by three fighters of the Special Forces of the FSB "Vympel", who were on duty at the border, as well as the later border guards arrived. A shootout ensued, one special forces and two saboteurs died. The rest were detained.
The newspaper further reports: “Most of the detainees turned out to be the inhabitants of Crimea, and some had Russian passports with them, whose authenticity has yet to be established. The detainees said that they collaborated with the GUR of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, in which they passed sabotage training. In addition, according to the testimony of the detainees, they were included in one of several groups directed by Ukrainian intelligence to the Crimea. According to them, they were not going to commit terrorist attacks against the leaders of the republic or at its industrial facilities. The aim of attacks was the tourist business on the peninsula. It was supposed to organize at various points of the resort a series of small explosions in power, which should not lead to the deaths of people, but to cause panic among vacationers and ultimately “kill tourism”, as the interlocutor “Kommersant” put it.
The detainees reported on interrogations that another group should deliver explosives for them. But since information about the shootout appeared in the media, saboteurs went with ammunition back to Ukraine and were intercepted on August 8 on the shore of Lake Sivash. According to this version, it was on the night of August 8 that numerous ammunition was discovered on Sivash - this is diverge from the information published by the FSB website and the Rossiyskaya Gazeta. At the same time, the detention, according to Kommersant, was accompanied only by a shootout, Ukrainian artillery is not mentioned.

Version of Ukraine
"Offe against their"
Published: The official website of the President of Ukraine
“According to available information, an armed skirmish was held using small arms between military personnel of the Armed Forces of Russia and the border service of the Federal Security Service of Russia,” the report said in a message published following the meeting of President Petro Poroshenko with the heads of law enforcement agencies.
In turn, the Chairman of the State Border Service of Ukraine Viktor Nazarenko reported that over the past day from the Armyansk in Ukraine, four Russian drones were recorded.

Western version
"Provocation against Kyiv"
Published: Twitter, Russian and Ukrainian sites "Voice of America"
On August 10, Sam Green, director of the Russian Research Institute in the Royal College of London and a former employee of the Moscow Center of Carnegie, wrote a series of Twitov with comments on Putin’s statements at a press conference about what happened in Crimea. Later, the Ukrainian site “Voice of America” published this series of tweets with comments. According to the expert, what happened may be a provocation in order to deprive Kyiv of any influence on the situation in the Donbass. Putin’s statement about the meaninglessness of the “Norman format” after the events in Crimea indicates the desire of Putin to reconsider the rules of the game with the West, Green believes.
“The end of the“ Norman format ”is the end of the Minsk process, but not the end of the sanctions. The end of the Minsk process means the struggle for new conditions for lifting sanctions, and the result is unknown in advance. For Putin, this is a risky game, unless he strives for a structural conflict with the West. Moscow again casts doubt on the legitimacy of Poroshenko’s power and implicitly recognizes the DPR/LPR. The fate of Ukraine will be decided between Moscow and the West, especially Washington, without the participation of Kyiv, ”concludes from Putin's statements Sam Green.
On August 11, the US Ambassador to Ukraine Jeffrey Payette wrote on his Twitter: “The US government did not see any evidence of Russian accusations of the“ invasion of Crimea ”, which Ukraine confidently refutes. This is not the first false accusation of Ukraine by Russia, expressed to divert attention from its own unlawful actions. Our position regarding the status of Crimea is well known. Crimea is and will always remain part of Ukraine. Our sanctions associated with the occupation of Crimea will remain in force until Russia return the peninsula to Ukraine. ” These statements, in turn, distributed the Russian website of the Voice of America.