Ukrainian president sends more troops east after ‘farce’ election of rebels

Ukraine’s president said Tuesday that additional troops are being deployed to the east, where fighting continues to rage between government forces and pro-Russian separatist fighters. His remarks came after Ukrainian security officials claimed over the weekend that Russia has intensified the transfer of troops and military equipment to separatist rebels. Moscow denies it aids the rebels. Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine staged swearing in ceremonies for their leaders on Tuesday after votes dismissed as a farce by Kiev, which says they violated terms of a peace plan to end a war that has seen more than 4,000 deaths. Over 100 Ukrainian troops have also been killed since the beginning of a ceasefire in eastern regions, the Ukrainian foreign ministry said Tuesday.

Any attempt to push further into Ukraine would be another violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and a gross violation of the Minsk agreements signed by Russia, Ukraine, and the separatists.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki

Most fighting has halted in the war in eastern Ukraine since September, when Kiev agreed to a truce after its forces were pushed back by what it and Western countries say was an incursion by armoured columns of Russian troops. But the front line remains dangerous and tense, with both sides complaining of shooting nearly every day. The worry for the West is that Moscow, which has already annexed Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula, will now also exert control over eastern Ukraine’s industrial Donbas region in perpetuity, as it has done for two decades in parts of Moldova and Georgia that broke away when the Soviet Union collapsed.

The desire for justice, for truth has always been honoured in Russia. And threats will not force us to abandon our values and ideals.

Russian President Vladimir Putin

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