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Ukraine crisis: The phoney war is over as Russian troops and armour pour across the border Ukraine crisis: The phoney war is over as Russian troops and armour pour across the border
(about 5 hours later)
Ambassadors from the 28 Nato countries and Ukraine will hold an emergency meeting on Friday to discuss Russia’s incursions into south-eastern Ukraine which became obvious today after months of smaller and more discreet activity in Ukrainian territory. Barack Obama accused  Russia of “repeatedly and deliberately” violating the territory of Ukraine and warned Moscow that it was now more isolated than at any time since the Cold War.
Russia’s actions will be a major source of division at next week’s Nato conference as eastern European members push for stronger action to stop Russia escalating its activities in eastern Ukraine. Speaking after the US had lambasted Russia in an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council, the US President said that the “ongoing Russian incursion into Ukraine will only bring more costs and consequences for Russia”, but said that would not involve US military action.
The invasion finally switched from being hidden and denied to open and blatant, although the Ukrainian government was reluctant to use the word “invasion” to describe the military incursion of Russian troops and armour into its sovereign territory. “The violence is encouraged by Russia. The separatists are trained by Russia. They are armed by Russia. They are funded by Russia. Russia has repeatedly and deliberately violated the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, and the new images of Russian forces inside Ukraine make that plain for the world to see,” Mr Obama said.
As the presence of Russian troops became clear, President Petro Poroshenko cancelled a visit to Turkey for the inauguration of newly elected President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and called an emergency session of his country’s security council.  “I have decided to cancel my visit to Turkey because of the sharp escalation of the situation in the Donetsk region... as Russian forces have entered Ukraine,” he said. While he did not use the word “invasion”, others were more blunt with Lithuania’s UN Ambassador, Raimonda Murmokaite, tweeting ahead of the Security Council meeting: “An invasion is an invasion is an invasion.”
At the UN meeting, Samantha Power, the US Ambassador to the UN, reminded her fellow ambassadors that this was “the 24th session to try to rein in Russia’s aggressive acts in the Ukraine”. She said Russia’s force along the border is the largest it has been since the Kremlin started deploying troops in late May.
“A Russian soldier who chooses to fight in Ukraine on summer break is still a Russian soldier,” she said.
She added that Moscow “has manipulated, it has obfuscated, it has outright lied” throughout.
The Russian Ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, hit back, saying Ukraine was “waging war against its own people”, but did not deny that his country’s soldiers were in Ukraine.
“There are Russian volunteers in eastern parts of Ukraine. No one is hiding that,” he said. But he  questioned the presence of Western advisers and asked where Ukrainian troops were getting weapons.
Mr Churkin said he wanted to “send a message to  Washington: stop interfering in the internal affairs of  sovereign states”.
The Baltic states in particular worry that Russia  might start interfering in  their affairs. Each has significant populations of  ethnic Russians.
The Czech Prime Minister, Bohuslav Sobotka, was quoted as saying his government would support an increase in Nato’s military presence in countries near Russia. “If Poland or the Baltic states would wish it, then we would support such an initiative,” he said. “After the Russian annexation of Crimea, we understand the worries of the Nato member countries directly bordering Russia or having a Russian minority on their territory.”
Yet another emergency meeting about the crisis – of ambassadors from the 28 Nato countries and Ukraine – was due to be held today.
The presence of Russian forces in Ukraine finally became open today, although Kiev was reluctant to use the word “invasion”.
That prompted Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko to scrap a visit to Turkey for the inauguration of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and call an emergency session of his country’s security council.
“I have decided to cancel my visit because of the sharp escalation of the situation in the Donetsk region... as Russian forces have entered Ukraine,” he said.
Russian mercenary forces have long been suspected of supporting pro-Russian rebels in the Donetsk region, but recent Ukrainian military successes have forced Russia to become more overt.Russian mercenary forces have long been suspected of supporting pro-Russian rebels in the Donetsk region, but recent Ukrainian military successes have forced Russia to become more overt.
The appearance of Russian troops in south-east Ukraine is similar to the appearance of the “green men” in Crimea which preceded the Russian takeover. The green men were Russian soldiers without insignia who the Russian government and Crimean separatists initially denied were Russian. The appearance of Russian troops in south-east Ukraine is similar to the appearance  of the “green men” in  Crimea which preceded the Russian takeover.
A Nato officer told reporters at its headquarters in Mons: “We assess well over 1,000 Russian troops are now operating inside Ukraine. They are supporting separatists [and] fighting with them.” A Nato officer told reporters at its headquarters in Mons in Belgium: “Well over 1,000 Russian troops are now operating inside Ukraine. They are supporting separatists [and] fighting with them.” The officer showed reporters a satellite picture, dated 23 August, of Russian self-propelled artillery lined up inside eastern Ukraine.
The officer showed reporters a satellite picture, dated 23 August, of Russian self-propelled artillery lined up inside eastern Ukraine.
“This is highly sophisticated equipment which requires a well-trained crew. It takes months to train crews like that. It’s extremely unlikely these sorts of units are manned by separatists,” he said.“This is highly sophisticated equipment which requires a well-trained crew. It takes months to train crews like that. It’s extremely unlikely these sorts of units are manned by separatists,” he said.
“Russia is trying to prevent a defeat of the separatists and wants to hold on to this area. The recent upsurge and now even direct involvement of Russian troops inside Ukraine is aimed at this.” “Russia is trying to prevent a defeat of the separatists and wants to hold on to this area. The recent upsurge and now direct involvement of Russian troops inside Ukraine is aimed at this.”
Colonel Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for Ukraine’s security council, said that this afternoon two columns of Russian tanks and military vehicles fired missiles at a border post in south-eastern Ukraine, then rolled into the country as outnumbered Ukrainian border guards fled. Ukrainian forces guard a checkpoint in the town of Mariupol, eastern Ukraine, which pro-Russian separatists claim is a major target in their rebellion against the government (AP) Alexander Zakharchenko, Prime Minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, told Reuters that about 3,000 Russian volunteers were serving in the rebel ranks.
Russian soldiers and rebels also suddenly appeared in Novoazovsk, on the coast of the Sea of Azov, and nearby areas, according to reporters from Associated Press and Reuters. The area provides a land link between mainland Russia and Crimea. “Today we reached the Sea of Azov, the shore, and the process of liberating our land, which is temporarily occupied by the Ukrainian authorities, will keep going further and further,” Mr Zakharchenko said in Donetsk, the main rebel stronghold in eastern Ukraine. “Taking [the port city of] Mariupol, the second-biggest town in Donetsk region, will allow us to expand our units by another five or seven thousand.”
Few are trying to disguise the existence of Russian soldiers. Alexander Zakharchenko, prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, told Reuters that about 3,000 Russian volunteers were serving in the rebel ranks.
“Today we reached the Sea of Azov, the shore, and the process of liberating our land, which is temporarily occupied by the Ukrainian authorities, will keep going further and further,” Mr Zakharchenko said in Donetsk, the main rebel stronghold in eastern Ukraine.
He said the new front in the south along the Sea of Azov coast was “economically, militarily and politically the only front on which we should place our emphasis”.
“Taking Mariupol, the second-biggest town in Donetsk region, will allow us to expand our units by another five or seven thousand,” he said, referring to the port city.
Ukrainian forces guard a checkpoint in the town of Mariupol, eastern Ukraine, which pro-Russian separatists claim is a major target in their rebellion against the government (AP) In Russia, Reuters also monitored armoured columns of Russian forces leaving the Ukraine after being involved in fighting. Vehicles were damaged and soldiers injured as they drove near the village of Krasnodarovka in Russia’s Rostov region.
General-Major Igor Konashenkov said there was no basis to any of the evidence of a Russian presence in Ukraine. “The information contained in this material bears no relation to reality,” he said.
The Ukrainian government is reluctant to describe the organised incursion of Russian troops into its territory as an invasion.
Orysia Lutsevych, a research fellow at Chatham House, said using the word “invasion” was not in Ukraine’s interest and could “raise the profile of the conflict from a local war to an international war”. She said: “Ukraine is stronger when it is a local war than a fully fledged international war, when it would have to deal with all the strength of Russia.”
Russian stock markets dived as fears grew that the country was escalating its role in the conflict, a move that could provoke the US and EU to impose further sanctions on Russian businesses and individuals. Russia’s MICEX index dropped nearly two per cent today.  
Additonal reporting by AP and ReutersAdditonal reporting by AP and Reuters