Russia questions US 'evidence' it fired into Ukraine
Washington pressuring Moscow to admit role in escalating conflict
The Russian Defence Ministry yesterday cast doubt on pictures that Washington said showed Russia had recently shelled Ukrainian military positions.
The United States has accused Russia of instigating the conflict in eastern Ukraine where pro-Moscow separatists are fighting central government forces. Russia has denied any involvement in the conflict.
On Sunday, the US State Department released images it said showed Russian forces had fired across the border at the Ukrainian military.
Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov questioned the substance of the images, according to RIA Novosti news agency. "Such materials weren't posted on Twitter coincidentally, since it's impossible to establish their authenticity due to the lack of exact reference to the location and the extremely low resolution," he said.
The US said the images showed marks on the ground at launch sites and impact craters around Ukrainian military locations, and indicated fire from multiple rocket launchers.
Officials said the images showed heavy weapons fired between July 21 and July 26 - after the July 17 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine.
The four-page memo is part of the Obama administration's push to hold Russia accountable for its activities in neighbouring Ukraine and persuade its European allies to apply harsher sanctions on Russia.