Russia's Patrushev Says U.S. Engineered Ukrainian 'Coup'
By RFE/RL
A senior Russian security official says the United States spent $5 billion on a "destabilization project in Ukraine" in order to "create an instrument to weaken Russia dramatically."
Russian Security Council Chairman Nikolai Patrushev made the comments in an interview published in Kommersant on June 22. He added that the United States is also "seeking to solve the task of keeping the European Union countries on a short lease by imposing anti-Russia sanctions and approaches on them."
Patrushev also said that, although Russia is "rendering support to Ukrainian refugees," "it is not expedient [for Moscow] to get involved in the civil conflict [there]."
Kyiv and Western countries have asserted that Russian military forces are active in eastern Ukraine and that Russia is providing military and other support to separatists in the region.
This ends our live-blogging for June 21. Be sure to check back tomorrow for our continuing coverage.
Here is today's map of the military situation in eastern Ukraine, according to the National Security and Defense Council:
