MOSCOW, June 19. /TASS/. The agent network that Ukraine has formed to carry out subversion attacks against targets inside Russia, as reported by CNN, is no different than the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group (outlawed in Russia), Alexey Polishchuk, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Second CIS Department, told TASS in an interview.
CNN reported earlier that Kiev has cultivated a network of agents in Russia to conduct acts of sabotage, including with the use of drones.
"If the network reported by CNN does exist, it is a terrorist one similar to ISIS (the former name for IS - TASS) or any such group that the international community has been actively fighting against," the senior Russian diplomat said. "Otherwise, either the United States has forgotten the tragedy of September 11, 2001, or we are witnessing yet another manifestation of the shortsighted politics of double standards," he explained.
Polishchuk recommended forwarding queries as to whether the reports are authentic to those agencies "that handle efforts to repel, thwart or look into such attacks."
Ukrainian drones attacked Moscow and the Moscow Region on the morning of May 30. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, eight unmanned aerial vehicles were used in the attack, of which five were downed and the other three were jammed. Two people in Moscow sought medical assistance following the incident, but did not require hospitalization. A number of buildings were damaged.