Un soldat russe a-t-il, dans une série d'autoportraits publiés sur son compte Instagram, démontré que la Russie aide les séparatistes prorusses, ce que Moscou a toujours démenti?
Un texte de Laurence Niosi
Dans les dernières semaines, un spécialiste des communications de l'armée russe, Alexander Sotkin, 24 ans, a publié plusieurs photos de lui sur le réseau social, révèle le site web américain Buzzfeed. Ces autoportraits sont géolocalisés pour la plupart en Russie, mais aussi dans l'est de l'Ukraine.
Dans une photo publiée dimanche, il semble être affecté au contrôle de lance-missiles Buk, du même genre que ceux qui ont sans doute servi à abattre le vol MH17 de la compagnie Malaysia Airlines, faisant 298 morts le 17 juillet dernier.
« Je suis assis, je travaille sur un buk, c'est un bon dimanche », écrit-il.
Les services de renseignements américains croient que les séparatistes sont à l'origine du tir et qu'ils se sont procuré ces missiles Bukauprès de l'armée russe.
Le mot russe « buk » peut toutefois faire allusion tant aux missiles du même nom qu'à un ordinateur portable, ont souligné plusieurs internautes. Le soldat a par ailleurs utilisé le symbole d'un ordinateur pour accompagner son texte.
Le 30 juin et le 5 juillet, le soldat Sotkin a également publié des photos depuis deux villages différents de l'est de l'Ukraine, région qui est sous le contrôle des rebelles prorusses.
Les déplacements du soldat Sotkin ont pu être suivis grâce à la géolocalisation d'Instagram, un outil très précis qui permet de placer les photos qui ont été publiées sur une carte géographique.
Plus tôt cette semaine, la Russie a dénoncé les récentes sanctions américaines et européennes édictées contre elle après la destruction en vol du Boeing 777 de la Malaysia Airlines.
Mardi, Washington a encore une fois accusé Moscou de continuer d'acheminer des armes, de l'argent et des hommes du côté ukrainien de la frontière. « Il y a des preuves évidentes à cela », avait déclaré le secrétaire d'État américain, John Kerry.
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