Russia has been lobbing artillery shells into Ukraine and is planning to give the rebels missiles that are even deadlier than the one that downed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, the US State Department said Thursday.
“We have new evidence that the Russians intend to deliver heavier and more powerful, multiple rocket launchers to the separatist forces in Ukraine, and have evidence that Russia is firing artillery from within Russia to attack Ukrainian military positions,” said State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf.
The stunning allegations were “just some pieces of info I’ve been able to get from our intelligence friends,” said Harf, who declined to provide details. “I can’t get into the sources and methods behind it.”
Harf’s remarks came after a NATO military official told reporters that the continuing flow of weapons from Russia into Ukraine “is a cause for concern.”
The shipments have also increased “in the last several weeks,” the official added.
The Ukrainian military, which blamed Russia for downing two fighter jets on Wednesday, said missiles fired “from the Russian side” landed Thursday near the Lugansk airport and across the Donetsk region.
The raging combat is keeping international investigators from getting to the rebel-controlled area to look for additional victims’ remains where Flight 17 crashed.
The bodies of at least 200 victims are being flown to the Netherlands for identification, because a majority of the victims were Dutch citizens.
A second wave of military transport planes carrying 74 coffins landed in Eindhoven Thursday afternoon.