Russia blames Ukraine for territory shelling

Special: Malaysia Airlines plane crashes in Ukraine

MOSCOW -- Ukraine shelled Russian territory for nine times in recent months, the Russian Defense Ministry said Thursday.

"In June and July, Russian side has detected nine shelling of the Russian territory," Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov told Russia's TV channel Rossiya 24.

As a result, one civilian was killed on July 13, while another was injured in the town of Donetsk in Rostov region.

There was also one case of Russian border patroller being targeted deliberately by the Ukrainian side, he added.

The official said that Russia has been reacting with "responsibility and restraint" to these provocative actions.

Meanwhile, Russia dismissed as "nonsense" Kiev's claims that two Ukrainian Su-25 fighter jets were shot down on Wednesday by the Russian side.

Andriy Lysenko, spokesman of Ukraine's National Defense and Security Council, said the two jets of the Ukrainian Air Force had been shot down in eastern Donetsk region by missiles fired from Russian territory.

Russia believed Kiev made those "ridiculous" statements to mislead and divert the world from the crash of Malaysia Airlines MH17, according to the Russian ministry.

The fatal crash of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH 17 in east Ukraine on July 17 killed all the 298 people aboard. The West claimed that pro-independence insurgents in Ukraine's east shot down the airliner with a surface-to-air missile, while Russia challenged the allegations,demanding the United States make public its relevant satellite pictures.

International investigation is still underway to clarify the reason and the perpetrators.