U.S. publishes images claiming to show Russian attacks

U.S. publishes images claiming to show Russian attacks

The Associated Press reported that the images, which originate from the U.S. National Security Agency, could not be verified from independent sources.

These images also show some impact locations, mostly fields with craters.

American officials said the missiles were fired between July 21 and 26, after the Malaysian airplane crash on July 17 that killed all 298 passengers and crew.

In addition to the images, four pages of "explanatory text" have also been published, which the AP said was "part of the pressure the administration of President Barack Obama put on Moscow to admit responsibility for their actions in neighboring Ukraine, and on the European Union to impose more stringent sanctions against Russia."

The accompanying text may compel Russia to give up on providing military support to the pro-Russian activists in Ukraine, believes the agency.

The Pentagon recently announced that movement of Russian heavy artillery across the border with Ukraine was "inevitable."

Russia subsequently denied allegations of involvement in the conflict in the eastern part of Ukraine. The Russian Foreign Ministry announced over the weekend that the United States are now implementing "a campaign of defamation against Russia, relying increasingly on lies."

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke yesterday with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, seeking from Russia to "immediately suspend the transfer of heavy weapons from Russia to Ukraine," said an unnamed official of the U.S. State Department.

The New York Times reports that that the United States are working on a plan that would allow the Obama administration to deliver information to Ukraine "about the exact location of the firing of surface-to-air missiles in eastern Ukraine under the control of pro-Russian rebels."

The paper writes that it is "difficult to determine whether President Barack Obama will agree to provide data to Ukraine, because it would mean that the U.S. is directly involved in the conflict."