Ukraine crisis: Russian troops crossed border, Nato says
Nato officials have seen Russian military equipment and Russian combat troops entering Ukraine this week, its top commander says.
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"Russian tanks, Russian artillery, Russian air defence systems and Russian combat troops" were sighted, US Gen Philip Breedlove said.
Russia's defence ministry denied that its troops were in eastern Ukraine to help pro-Russian separatists there.
However, the rebels have admitted being helped by "volunteers" from Russia.
The United Nations Security Council is convening an emergency session on Wednesday to discuss the reported sightings.
Heavy artillery fire rocked the east Ukrainian city of Donetsk, the industrial hub held by pro-Russian separatist rebels, on Wednesday morning.
There were also reports of fighting near the rebel-held city of Luhansk, with one Ukrainian soldier killed and another injured, according to Ukrainian security forces.
Unmarked convoys
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has reported seeing unmarked convoys in the region in recent days.
Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said any significant military build-up would be "a severe threat to the ceasefire", which was agreed in Minsk on 5 September.
In a statement, Mr Stoltenberg urged Russia "to pull back back its forces and equipment from Ukraine, and to fully respect the Minsk agreements".
Gen Breedlove, talking to reporters on a visit to Bulgaria, said the alleged Russian troop deployment may be intended to reinforce "pockets" under separatist control in eastern Ukraine.
This could, he said, help them to form "a more contiguous, more whole and capable pocket of land in order to then hold on to it long term".
He did not specify how many troops, vehicles or weapons were seen. A Nato official confirmed to the BBC that Nato had "assessed" that the equipment and troops were Russian in origin.
Russian defence official Maj-Gen Igor Konashenkov said "there was and is no evidence" to support Gen Breedlove's claims.
Russia has consistently denied sending troops and equipment to support the rebels fighting in eastern Ukraine.
Preparations
Separately, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said that the country's long-range aircraft would go on patrol flights over the Arctic Ocean to the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico.
He said that the current situation required Russia to restart the flights, which were cut at the end of the Cold War.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's defence minister has said that government forces are redeploying in preparation for a possible new offensive by pro-Russian separatist rebels.
"The main task I see is to prepare for combat operations. We are doing this, we are readying our reserves," Stepan Poltorak told a government meeting.
More than 4,000 people have died since government forces moved in April to put down an armed insurrection by the rebels in the two regions, which border Russia.
Hundreds of people have been killed since a fragile truce was agreed three months ago.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday her government was "not satisfied" with the progress in implementing the Minsk agreement, but added that there were no plans at present for further economic sanctions against Russia over its involvement in Ukraine.
"Further economic sanctions are not planned at the moment, we are focusing on the winter and the humanitarian situation there and how to get a real ceasefire," she said.
The OSCE said earlier that the conflict could get worse.
"The level of violence in eastern Ukraine and the risk of further escalation remain high and are rising," OSCE representative Michael Bociurkiw told reporters in Kiev.
Credit: The BBC
