Putin says rumors on Russia’s military presence in eastern Ukraine ‘rubbish’

MOSCOW, April 17 (Itar-Tass) - All allegations concerning Russia’s military involvement in the recent developments in the east of Ukraine are “rubbish,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday. “It is all rubbish. There are no Russian military detachments in the east of Ukraine,” Putin said during his annual Q&A session adding that there are neither Russian special task services, nor military instructors in the east of Ukraine. “There are only local people and the best proof [that the Russian military is not involved] is that people are taking off their masks,” he said. “There is nowhere for them to go, this is their land and negotiations must be held with them only.” Protests against the new self-proclaimed Ukrainian authorities, who were brought to power as a result of a coup in February, have erupted in Ukraine’s Russian-speaking eastern territories, in particular, the Donetsk, Lugansk and Kharkov regions, with demonstrators demanding referendums on the country’s federalization. Ukraine’s new authorities and some western media sources earlier alleged that the Russian military was behind the protests in the eastern Ukrainian regions. Ukrainian parliament-appointed acting head of state Alexander Turchinov on Tuesday announced the start of an antiterrorism operation in the Donetsk Region in an apparent effort to crack down on protests of federalization supporters. Learn more on itar-tass.com