1ST LEAD Moscow says it wants to prevent renewed fighting in Ukraine By …
Kyiv/Moscow (dpa) – Russia on Thursday again denied accusations that
it is sending troops and heavy weapons to separatist militias in
eastern Ukraine, even as the government in Kyiv and international
observers reported fresh evidence of a military build-up.
“Neither are any Russian soldiers in Ukraine, nor have any crossed
the border,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich
said in Moscow, according to Russian news agencies.
The spokesman added that Russia was doing everything to prevent a
renewal of fighting in the region, because “this would be a
catastrophe.”
Tensions have spiralled over the past two weeks as international
observers reported the movement of large military convoys in
territories held by the pro-Russian separatists.
NATO on Wednesday accused Russia of sending large numbers of troops
and heavy weapons to eastern Ukraine.
The Ukrainian military said Thursday that the number of violent
clashes was on the rise and that Russian heavy weapons keep flowing
toward the lines separating both sides. It also accused Russia of
massing regular troops along the border.
Four Ukrainian soldiers were killed and 19 wounded in clashes in
eastern Ukraine over the past 24 hours, the National Security Council
said Thursday.
Council spokesman Andriy Lysenko said in Kyiv that government forces
detained two Russian soldiers at a checkpoint near Donetsk airport.
The two had come to Ukraine to fight on the side of the separatists
but had confused a Ukrainian checkpoint with a separatist one,
Lysenko said according to an official transcript.
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said
that it observed an upsurge in fighters crossing the border between
Russia and Ukraine.
Some 665 men and women in military-style dress were observed crossing
the border in both directions over the past week, the OSCE said in a
report, adding that this was the highest number since its observer
mission in Russia was established.
The observers did not see any of them carrying weapons, the report,
published late Wednesday, said.
The OSCE in August dispatched a small observer mission at two Russian
border posts with Ukraine, Donetsk and Gukovo. However, there are no
observers at the region‘s largest crossing post in Novoshakhtinsk.
The mission is independent of the much larger OSCE mission inside
Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Russia announced that it is sending another humanitarian
convoy to Ukraine.
The 82 lorries with 625 tonnes of aid will cross the border on
Friday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lukashevich said. He added that
Moscow had asked the government in Kyiv to help with the convoy‘s
safe passage.
Russia has sent six humanitarian convoys to eastern Ukraine, all of
which entered the country via rebel-controlled border crossings
without approval from the government in Kyiv.