Russia sending tanks across border into Ukraine, Kiev says (LA Times)

Russia sending tanks across border into Ukraine, Kiev says

By Sergei L. Loiko, Carol J. Williams
June 12, 2014, 1:22 PM | Reporting from Moscow

Russia has gone back on its promise to secure its border with Ukraine against further infusions of weapons and fighters, with at least three Russian tanks and several armored vehicles spotted Thursday in the eastern Ukraine town of Snizhnye, a top Ukrainian official said.

"Columns of armored personnel vehicles and artillery have entered through checkpoints seized by terrorists," Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said at a news conference in Kiev, the capital, citing his nation's intelligence sources and referring to separatists in the east.

Avakov said Ukrainian troops engaged the Russian convoy and destroyed some of the armor.

News agencies in the region also reported sighting Russian tanks for the first time since rebels took up arms against the Ukrainian government in March.

Dmitry Tymchuk, head of the Kiev-based Center for Military and Political Research, wrote on his Facebook page that an armored convoy was seen heading for Donetsk, the largest city held by the rebels.

http://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-ukraine-russia-tanks-20140612-story.html