Russian Troops Said to Enter Ukraine
August 28, 2014
The Ukrainian government accused Russia today of launching a “full-scale invasion” by sending troops, tanks, and artillery pieces into southeastern Ukraine to support pro-Russian separatists who have been battling the government. A Russian official told one news agency that the claims bear “no relation to reality.” However, in an interview with the BBC, the leader of the main separatist group in southeastern Ukraine said that up to 4,000 Russians, including active-duty soldiers on leave, had been fighting against Ukrainian government forces there.
According to multiple news services, a combined force of Russian and separatist forces had seized the coastal town of Novoazovsk, opening a new southern front, in an attempt to relieve pressure on the separatist-held cities of Donetsk and Luhansk farther north. In recent weeks, the Ukrainian military, supported by its Western allies, has made progress in its efforts to oust pro-Russian forces from those cities and surrounding areas. Novoazovsk, a port city on the Azov Sea, lies on the southeastern tip of Ukraine along the border with Russia. The city sits along a road linking Russia to the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia seized in March.
Also today, NATO Brigadier General Niko Tak told the BBC that there had been a “significant escalation in the level and sophistication of Russia’s military interference in Ukraine” over the past two weeks.” Tak said NATO had detected “large quantities of advanced weapons, including air defence systems, artillery, tanks, and armoured personnel carriers being transferred to separatist forces in eastern Ukraine.”
Novoazovsk lies on the sea of Azov, east of Mariupol, at the southeastern tip of Ukraine (World Book map; map data © MapQuest.com, Inc.)
Leaders in Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and other European countries expressed outrage at the reports and demanded an explanation from Russia. The United Nations Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting for later today.
