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Ukraine crisis: Rebel leader says Russian arms on way Ukraine crisis: Rebel fighters 'trained in Russia'
(about 2 hours later)
A rebel leader in eastern Ukraine has said a convoy of military hardware is on its way to the region from Russia. The new rebel leader in east Ukraine's Donetsk region has said his forces include 1,200 fighters who underwent military training in Russia.
Alexander Zakharchenko, self-proclaimed PM of the Donetsk rebel area, said on Friday 150 vehicles and 1,200 personnel were approaching their border. Addressing a meeting, Alexander Zakharchenko said the fighters had trained "four months on the territory of the Russian Federation".
Russia has denied claims by Ukraine and Western reporters that military aid to the rebels is crossing over. The rebels, he said, had reserves of 150 combat vehicles, including tanks.
Meanwhile a controversial humanitarian aid convoy from Russia is stalled on the Russian side of the border. An earlier mistranslation of his words suggested Mr Zakharchenko had said the vehicles were on their way from Russia.
The convoy is apparently awaiting inspection by Ukrainian border guards, as Russia, Ukraine and the Red Cross decide how the aid will be delivered. Russia has denied claims by Ukraine and Western reporters that military aid to the rebels has been crossing the border.
On Friday Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoygu assured his US counterpart Chuck Hagel that there were no Russian military personnel involved with the convoy, nor would it be used as a pretext for further intervention. More than 2,000 civilians and combatants have been killed since mid-April, when Ukraine's new government sent troops to put down an uprising by pro-Russian separatists in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Journalists inspected some of the vehicles on Friday. A huge humanitarian aid convoy from Russia is stalled on the Russian side of the border from Luhansk, apparently awaiting inspection by Ukrainian border guards, as Russia, Ukraine and the Red Cross decide how the aid will be delivered.
'Good news' On Friday Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoygu assured his US counterpart Chuck Hagel that there were no Russian military personnel involved with the convoy, nor would it be used as a pretext for a Russian military intervention.
Mr Zakharchenko, who became self-declared prime minister of the "Donetsk People's Republic" (DPR) last week, is seen on a video posted on YouTube addressing the region's self-styled parliament in a session said to be on Friday. Journalists who were invited to inspect some of the 280 or so vehicles on Friday found humanitarian aid inside but also noticed that some of the lorries were not full to capacity.
"I'd like to give you some good news," he says. "At present, moving towards the corridor [a link across the border into Russia established by the rebels] are... 150 items of military hardware, 30 of which are tanks and the rest are infantry fighting vehicles and armoured personnel carriers." 'Trained in Russia'
He added that the vehicles were accompanied by 1,200 personnel who had received four months' training in Russia. Mr Zakharchenko, who became the prime minister of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) last week, made the announcement to the rebels' parliament on Friday, with a video of his speech (in Russian) posted on YouTube.
However, in an interview for Russian Life News TV on Saturday, when asked about his remarks, Mr Zakharchenko appeared to step back from them. Littering the speech with military jargon, he said: "There are, at present, in the axis of the corridor [linking rebels in Donetsk with those in Luhansk and the Russian border] - there have been assembled -reserves of the following order: 150 units of military hardware of which about 30 are actual tanks and the rest are infantry fighting vehicles and armoured personnel carriers, and 1,200 personnel who underwent four months of military training on the territory of the Russian Federation."
He said only that his fighters had captured large amounts of Ukrainian hardware and that volunteers from Russia, not servicemen, were fighting for the rebels. The rebel leader went on a Russian pro-Kremlin TV channel on Saturday to reject reports that the hardware had come from Russia.
His remarks came as Ukraine said it had partially destroyed an armoured column that had crossed from Russia overnight on Thursday. "The Ukrainian military have left us so much hardware that we can't find enough people to crew it - I mean tanks, troop carriers, Grad [multiple rocket] launchers and so on," he told Life News (video in Russian).
The alleged incursion was witnessed by two UK newspaper reporters. He added that "ethnic Ukrainian" volunteers from Russia, not servicemen, were fighting for the rebels, along with "Turks; a great many Serbs; Italians and Germans; and even two Romanians".
Russia's defence ministry said the incursion reports were "some kind of fantasy", and Moscow has consistently denied directly arming or training the rebels. Ukraine said on Friday it had partially destroyed an armoured column that had crossed from Russia on Thursday evening. Two UK newspaper reporters witnessed the alleged incursion.
Russia's defence ministry responded by saying the incursion reports were "some kind of fantasy" and Moscow has consistently denied directly arming or training the rebels.
But the incident prompted a flurry of Western condemnation.But the incident prompted a flurry of Western condemnation.
"Any unilateral military actions on the part of the Russian Federation in Ukraine under any pretext, including humanitarian, will be considered by the European Union as a blatant violation of international law," a statement by EU foreign ministers issued on Friday says."Any unilateral military actions on the part of the Russian Federation in Ukraine under any pretext, including humanitarian, will be considered by the European Union as a blatant violation of international law," a statement by EU foreign ministers issued on Friday says.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call on Friday to "put an end to the flow of military goods, military advisers and armed personnel over the border".German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call on Friday to "put an end to the flow of military goods, military advisers and armed personnel over the border".
The conflict in Ukraine's east, which has claimed more than 2,000 lives, has intensified in recent weeks.
The violence began in April when pro-Russian rebels seized government buildings and tried to declare independence.
The Ukrainian military launched an operation to retake the region and stepped up its activities in June.