Controversy over U.S.' ‘artillery fire’ photos

July 28, 2014 08:30 pm | Updated November 16, 2021 05:31 pm IST - Washington

Real-life warfare between Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces seemed to spill over into social media over the weekend after Geoffrey Pyatt, U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, posted several satellite photographs on Twitter apparently showing artillery strikes within Ukrainian territory originating from “Russian forces,” from “across border.”

Russian officials however wasted little time in dismissing the photographs as “fake,” with the Defence Ministry’s Igor Konashenkov quoted in reports as saying, “These materials were posted to Twitter not by accident, as their authenticity is impossible to prove – due to the absence of the attribution to the exact area, and an extremely low resolution. Let alone using them as ‘photographic evidence.’”

The photographs were allegedly supplied by the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence, with one image dated July 25–26 showing what the ODNI claimed was “ground scarring” on the Russian side of the border from artillery aimed at Ukrainian military units in Ukraine, “as well as the resultant ground craters on the Ukrainian side of the border.”

Mr. Pyatt said in a tweet accompanying the photograph, “Imagery: evidence Russian forces have fired across border at Ukr forces, and separatists have used artillery provided by Russia in attacks.”

While some questioned the authenticity of the images and the decision to release them to the public on social media rather than take them up with Russia through diplomatic channels, the State Department re-tweeted Mr. Pyatt’s tweets of the photographs, suggesting its support for the evidence.

The controversy surrounding the photographs has erupted amidst media reports of the Ukrainian military launching a blitz of attacks aimed at reclaiming the city of Donetsk, despite nearly 15,000 Russian forces allegedly “amassed on the border,” and on Monday reports emerged of Ukrainian forces capturing rebel territory close to the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.

The war of words on the micro-blogging site continued even as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay described the “horrendous shooting down” MH17 as a “violation of international law [that] may amount to a war crime.”

Ms. Pillay called for a prompt, thorough, and impartial investigation into the crash warning “all those involved in the conflict, including foreign fighters,” that every effort would be made to ensure that anyone committing serious violations of international law including war crimes will be brought to justice, no matter who they were.

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