Ukraine: Ukraine president accuses Moscow as 15,000 Russian soldiers join separatists
A Ukrainian serviceman shoots during fighting with pro-Russian separatists in the eastern Ukrainian town of Ilovaysk August 26, 2014. Maks Levin/Reuters
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that Russian forces had been deployed in Ukrainian territory amid claims that around 15,000 Russian soldiers have been sent to the Donetsk region. Poroshenko cancelled a visit to Turkey and called an urgent meeting of the Ukrainian Defence and Security Council over what he called the “rapidly deteriorating situation” in Eastern Ukraine.
The 15,000 estimate was made by Russian organisation Soldier’s Mothers which establishes contact between military personnel on duty and their families.
“The total number of is around 15,000,” Valentina Melnikova, a spokesperson for the organisation told Russian Independent TV Channel Dozhd this morning, in reference to the number of Russian soldiers fighting alongside Ukrainian separatists.