Russia Warns to Shoot down Ukrainian Missiles near Crimea If Threatened

Russia warned it could shoot down Ukrainian missiles in case they represented threat, Russain media reported Thursday, citing Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Peskov confirmed the possibility of applying the air defense forces to the Russian Vedomosti newspaper on Wednesday, according to Sputnik.

Earlier on Wednesday, Peskov told reporters that Russia would not like to see Ukraine breach international law and threaten international flight safety with planned missile launches west of the Crimean peninsula coastline.

Ukraine announced on Thursday it has started missile launches in the Southern region of the country.

“They have already started. In other words, everything is going according to plan,” the krainian Air Force’s Air Command South’s spokesman Volodymyr Kryzhanovskiy told Ukraine’s 112 broadcaster, saying that the missile launches comply with the norms of international law.

The spokesperson also added that the nearest approach to Crimean airspace is at least 18.6 miles.

“According to the norms of international law, this is a sufficiently large distance,” Kryzhanovskiy said.

The Russian Black Sea Fleet occupied positions along the western Crimean coastline to defend regional airspace in the course of Ukraine’s planned two-day missile launches, a uniformed services source in Crimea told RIA Novosti.