Emergency meetings have been called by Nato, the United Nations and the European Union after Kiev accused Moscow of a de facto invasion and Barack Obama said Russia was engineering the violence in Ukraine.
The US president said that fighting was not the result of an internal uprising, but of "deep Russian involvement", the BBC reports. President Poroshenko of Ukraine accused Russia of sending troops and armoured vehicles to fight in the southeast of his country.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Russia denies that it has sent any troops to eastern Ukraine, but Nato said that satellite photographs released yesterday showed that Russian armoured vehicles and artillery had been moving across the border from Russia into Ukraine for up to a week, The Guardian reports.
Speaking at a news conference in Washington, Obama pointed the finger at Russia's role in a conflict that has killed more than 2,000 people. "There is no doubt that this is not a home-grown, indigenous uprising in eastern Ukraine," he said.
"The separatists are trained by Russia, they are armed by Russia, they are funded by Russia. Russia has deliberately and repeatedly violated the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and the new images of Russian forces inside Ukraine make that plain for the world to see."
However, Obama repeated that there would be no American military response to the latest developments.
Ukraine's prime minister, Arseny Yatsenyuk, asked the EU and US to put a freeze on Russian assets. Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, said the EU would discuss its response to the accusations at a summit this weekend and hinted at the possibility of further sanctions.
The Ukrainian military confirmed that its soldiers had been forced to withdraw from Novoazovsk to defend the strategically important coastal town of Mariupol. Ukraine insisted that its forces are now fighting "Russian troops" rather than pro-Russian separatists along the country's southeastern coast.
-
October 5 editorial cartoonsCartoons Sunday's political cartoons include half-truth hucksters, Capitol lockdown, and more
-
Jaguar Land Rover’s cyber bailoutTalking Point Should the government do more to protect business from the ‘cyber shockwave’?
-
Russia: already at war with Europe?Talking Point As Kremlin begins ‘cranking up attacks’ on Ukraine’s European allies, questions about future action remain unanswered
-
US tipped to help Kyiv strike Russian energy sitesSpeed Read Trump has approved providing Ukraine with intelligence for missile strikes on Russian energy infrastructure
-
Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of TaiwanIn the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
-
Moldova gives decisive win to pro-EU partySpeed Read The country is now on track to join the European Union within five years
-
Interpol arrests hundreds in Africa-wide sextortion crackdownIN THE SPOTLIGHT A series of stings disrupts major cybercrime operations as law enforcement estimates millions in losses from schemes designed to prey on lonely users
-
What led to Poland invoking NATO’s Article 4 and where could it lead?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION After a Russian drone blitz, Warsaw’s rare move to invoke the important NATO statute has potentially moved Europe closer to continent-wide warfare
-
Poland downs Russian drones in NATO airspaceSpeed Read Polish airspace was “violated by a huge number of Russian drones,” Prime Minister Donald Tusk said
-
Russian strike on Kyiv kills 23, hits EU officesSpeed Read The strike was the second-largest since Russia invaded in 2022
-
China is silently expanding its influence in American citiesUnder the Radar New York City and San Francisco, among others, have reportedly been targeted
