Kiev/Brussels: Ukraine said on Saturday Russian tanks had flattened a small border town and pro-Russian rebels had made fresh gains in its east, as EU leaders signalled they were ready to prepare more sanctions on Moscow over the crisis. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, speaking ahead of an EU summit in Brussels, said he was still holding out hope for a political solution but told journalists there were now thousands of foreign troops and hundreds of foreign tanks in his country.
Russia has repeatedly dismissed accusations from Kiev and Western powers that it has sent soldiers across the border into its neighbour, or supported pro-Russian rebels fighting a five-month-old separatist war in Ukraine’s east. But Ukraine military spokesman Andriy Lysenko told journalists in Kiev Russian tanks had entered the small Ukrainian town of Novosvitlivka on the border with Russia and fired on every house.
“We have information that virtually every house has been destroyed,” Mr Lysenko said, without giving details on when the reported attack took place. Ukraine’s daily military briefings typically cover the previous 24 hours. “Direct military aggression by the Russian Federation in the east of Ukraine is continuing. The Russians are continuing to send military equipment and ‘mercenaries’,” Ukraine’s defence and security council said in a separate Twitter post. A senior UN human rights official said on Friday nearly 2,600 civilians, Ukrainian government forces and rebels have been killed.
