Ukraine accuses Russia of sending tanks across its border

On Thursday, Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said that an armored column from Russia, including three tanks plus armored cars and personnel carriers, had crossed into eastern Ukraine through a separatist-controlled border crossing. Two of the tanks split off and headed west toward Horlivka (Gorlovka), Avakov said, adding that Ukraine forces attacked that column and destroyed part of it, CNN reports.

Russia disputes the claim that its tanks are in Ukraine, and there is no independent verification, though Reuters reporters saw tanks in Snizhne — roughly halfway between the porous Russian border and separatist-held Donetsk — and someone in that town uploaded this video:

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called Russian President Vladimir Putin to complain about the incursion, his spokesman said. Pro-Moscow separatists are known to have armored vehicles seized from Ukraine's forces, The New York Times notes, but not tanks.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.