2014-08-28 11:16:00

West: Russia opening new front in Ukraine


(Vatican Radio) Officials say heavily armed Russian-backed separatists have captured new territory in south-eastern Ukraine, far from their previous battles with government troops. The battles in and around the town of Novoazovsk have added to Western concerns that Russia is supporting the opening of a new front in Ukraine.

Listen to Stefan Bos' report: 

Heavy shelling accompanied rebel fighters with dozens of tanks and armoured vehicles who entered Novoazovsk, a strategic resort town of 40,000 people on the Azov Sea.

The new south-eastern front has raised fears the separatists are seeking to create a land link between Russia and Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that Moscow annexed in March.

Witnesses said the offensive with heavy weapons added to growing evidence that the rebels receive support from neighbouring Russia.

RUSSIAN BORDER

To travel to Novoazovsk, pro-Russian separatists would have to travel through government controlled areas. The region is easier accessible from the nearby Russian border.

A pro-Russian rebel leader in eastern Ukraine admitted that as many as 4,000 Russian citizens are fighting in their ranks.

Alexander Zakharchenko said they included former service people or current personnel on leave.

He was speaking as the rebels threatened to take the key port of Mariupol, after opening the new front in the south-east.

Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk told parliament that his nation had also received independent confirmation that the Russian military was active in Ukraine.

NATO, INTELLIGENCE INFO

"We have received information, which has been confirmed in the last few hours, that Russian troops are active in eastern Ukraine," Tusk said.

"The information is from the NATO military alliance and confirmed by our intelligence, and is basically unambiguous," he told legislators.

The United States believes Russia is helping rebel forces expand that fight with tanks, rocket launchers and armoured vehicles. "These incursions indicate a Russian-directed counteroffensive is likely underway in Donetsk and Luhansk," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters, referring to two rebel regions in eastern Ukraine.

"Clearly that is of deep concern to us."

RUSSIAN SOLDIERS

She also said the U.S. administration is "concerned about the Russian government’s unwillingness to tell the truth even as its soldiers are found 30 miles (48 kilometers) inside Ukraine.”

Kiev has accused Russia of launching new incursion across its border. Ukraine said Wednesday it captured another

Russian service man after releasing a video of 10 other seized Russian soldiers who reportedly entered the country illegally. Moscow has denied it actively supports the rebels.

Kiev also said that fighting in the towns of Horlivka and Ilovaysk to the north and east respectively had killed some 200 pro-Russian separatists and 13 Ukrainian troops in recent days.

Additionally, several residents were killed or injured injured as shelling hit the rebel-held stronghold of Donestk, where the cultural center caught fire and a residential building was seriously damaged.

More than 2,000 people have been killed in months of fighting, including 298 people, when a Malaysian airliner was shot down last month, allegedly by pro-Russian rebels.








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