Russia probes reported killing of child in Ukraine attack | THE DAILY STAR

Moscow said Monday it was probing the death of a five-year-old child allegedly killed by Kiev forces in eastern Ukraine held by Russian-backed separatists.

Over the past week, fears have mounted of an escalation of a simmering conflict in eastern Ukraine, where government forces have battled separatists since 2014.

Ukraine last week said Russia has been building up a military presence on the border, and US forces in Europe raised their alert status following "recent escalations of Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine".

On Monday, the Russian Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said the Ukrainian army had once again breached a ceasefire on Friday and attacked civilian infrastructure in the village of Oleksandrivske in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) using heavy armament and drones.

As a result of an explosion, a five-year-old child was killed while his 66-year-old grandmother was injured, the Investigative Committee said in a statement.

In a separate incident, a 46-year-old resident of the village of Mykolaivka in the separatist-held Lugansk People's Republic was wounded in an explosion, investigators said....AFP

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 Russia take the steps that it considers necessary on its own territory, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Monday, commenting on Washington's claims that Russia pulls troops closer to the border with Ukraine.

"We conduct events that we consider necessary on our territory, I will stress once again that we do it on the Russian territory, and some US signals have nothing to do with that. It may be said that we just ignore these signals," Ryabkov said.

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• Moscou balaie les spéculations sur un conflit imminent entre l'Ukraine et la Russie

• Russia says military moves near Ukraine purely defensive, as NATO rebukes Moscow | Al Arabiya English

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L'Union européenne a exprimé sa «grande inquiétude» et a assuré l'Ukraine de son soutien «indéfectible» face aux mouvements de troupes russes près de ses frontières. Kiev accuse toujours Moscou de masser des soldats au nord et à l'est du pays. Le chef de la diplomatie européenne Josep Borell s'entretiendra avec son homologue ukrainien et les 27 ministres des Affaires étrangères des pays de l'UE lors d'une réunion au cours du mois d'avril.