The statement was made by Ukrainian representatives at the regular OSCE Forum on security issues today according to the press office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MID).Ukraine has demanded that Russia provides an explanation of how Igla MANPADS from a Russian military base fell into the hands of militants in the Donbass.
The ministry explained that on June 6, after fending off a terrorist attack on the Marinovka border post in the Donetsk region, a case of Igla MANPADS was found at the scene of the fighting.
[Russian Iglas - Photo Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affaris]
"A packing slip, which was found in the case, indicates that the MANPADS indicated had been stored since 2001 at an Air Defence base of the Russian armed forces - Russian Military Installation Number 33859 (in the the town of Yeysk in the Krasnodar region)" said the MID.
The last note verifying their presence in the warehouse at military installation number 33859 was dated April 12, 2014.
Translation by The Interpreter."Therefore, missiles which had still been stored in a Russian military base in Yeysk on April 12 have already been used on June 6 by terrorists during their attack on the Marinovka border checkpoint" said the outraged Ukrainian diplomats.
"The transfer by the Russian Federation of MANPADS to the terrorists not only confirms the fact of direct intervention by the Russian Federation in the internal affairs of Ukraine, but also Russia's support of terrorism", says the statement.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry stated that it was a gross violation of Russia's international obligation to control the storage and transfer of MANPADS.