SIMFEROPOL, August 13. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia’s reaction to Ukraine’s fire attacks on Russian territory should be reserved and balanced, Alexei Pushkov, the head of the Russian State Duma Committee for International Affairs, said on Wednesday.

“Our actions should be extremely balanced,” Pushkov told the residents of Balaklava, which is part of the federal city of Sevastopol, when asked why Russia’s reaction to the attacks on its border regions was silent.

Kiev, Pushkov said, wants “a very long conflict” in hope of enlisting support from Europe and the United States. “We may provoke the Ukraine authorities to start this conflict if our planes begin patrolling Ukraine’s airspace,” Pushkov said, adding Russia had warned Ukraine about possible retaliation.

“There has been no reaction as of yet,” Pushkov stressed.

Russia’s southern Rostov region has been a target for constant shelling coming from Ukraine’s territory in recent months. The last incident took place on August 12 when a shell fell in the yard of a private home, luckily hurting no one.