Ukraine Says Russian Forces Cross Border
Ukraine has accused Russia of sending forces over the border into eastern Ukraine with tanks and other vehicles, as Russia pledged to send in another humanitarian aid convoy to deliver relief supplies to areas held by pro-Moscow militants, Annie Gowen and Karoun Demirjian write for the Washington Post.
Military Spokesman for Kyiv, Andriy Lysenko said Russian military vehicles carrying the insignia of separatists’ self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic,“violated the state border of Ukraine,” near Novoazovsk in the southern part of the Donetsk region.
The accusation was the latest from Kyiv saying Russia has been directly supplying weapons, personnel and other supplies to the separatists in eastern Ukraine.
International monitors have been critical of Russia’s actions. However they did not immediately back up Ukraine’s accusations on Monday. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he had not heard of the alleged incident, but dismissed the claim from Kyiv that Russian tanks had opened a new front inside of Ukraine, along with earlier accusations he rejected as “misinformation.”
Lysenko specified that a minimum of 10 tanks, two armored vehicles as well as two trucks from crossed into Ukraine from Russia at 5:20 am on Monday, potentially bound for Mariupol, a key port city on the Sea of Azov. The highway leading to Mariupol is now under the control of the Ukrainian military, he said.
Read more at the Washington Post.