Moscow Concerned About Kiev Ability to Control Extremist Battalions in Donbass

Russia is worried about the ability of Ukrainian authorities to control violent actions by the country’s so-called volunteer battalions in the country’s east, Russia’s permanent representative to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin said on Thursday.

UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, Ukraine's permanent mission to the United Nations said that Kiev will initiate consultations at the UN Security Council following the latest events in Crimea.

"There are some volunteer extremist battalions present in the east of the country. We have a concern about their [Kiev’s] ability to control their own people," Churkin stated in a press conference after a special UN Security Council meeting on Crimea.

Many members of the UN Security Council have urged full implementation of the Minsk Agreement to settle the conflict in eastern Ukraine, Russia’s permanent representative to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin said on Thursday.

"Many members of the Security Council called upon full implementation of the Minsk Agreement. This is also in line with our position," Churkin stated in a press conference after a special UN Security Council meeting on Crimea.

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said Wednesday it had dismantled a spy ring in Crimea organized by the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, which was plotting acts of terror and sabotage on critical and life-supporting elements of the peninsula's infrastructure.