Post by Sailor on Nov 7, 2014 9:20:38 GMT -8
KIEV/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Ukraine's military accused Russia on Friday of sending a column of 32 tanks and truckloads of troops into the country's east to support pro-Russian separatists fighting government forces.
Thursday's cross-border incursion, if confirmed, is a significant escalation of a conflict that has killed more than 4,000 people since the separatists rose up in mid-April and would call into question Russia's commitment to a two-month-old ceasefire deal.
The truce has looked particularly fragile this week, with each side accusing the other of violations after separatist elections last Sunday condemned as illegitimate by the West.
"Supplies of military equipment and enemy fighters from the Russian Federation are continuing," military spokesman Andriy Lysenko told a briefing in Kiev, describing a column that included 16 big artillery guns and 30 trucks carrying troops and ammunition as well as 32 tanks.
More:
news.yahoo.com/tank-column-crosses-russia-ukraine-kiev-military-115026097.html
32 tanks (probably T-90s) equals a tank battalion, 10 tanks per company plus 2 in the command element. Reuters reports 16 arty pieces in company along with a supply train. Neither article specifies any BTR or BMP mech infantry units or helo units but I assume they are there if the report is true.
If the report is true, Moscow (Putin) is feeling froggy again.
Thursday's cross-border incursion, if confirmed, is a significant escalation of a conflict that has killed more than 4,000 people since the separatists rose up in mid-April and would call into question Russia's commitment to a two-month-old ceasefire deal.
The truce has looked particularly fragile this week, with each side accusing the other of violations after separatist elections last Sunday condemned as illegitimate by the West.
"Supplies of military equipment and enemy fighters from the Russian Federation are continuing," military spokesman Andriy Lysenko told a briefing in Kiev, describing a column that included 16 big artillery guns and 30 trucks carrying troops and ammunition as well as 32 tanks.
More:
news.yahoo.com/tank-column-crosses-russia-ukraine-kiev-military-115026097.html
32 tanks (probably T-90s) equals a tank battalion, 10 tanks per company plus 2 in the command element. Reuters reports 16 arty pieces in company along with a supply train. Neither article specifies any BTR or BMP mech infantry units or helo units but I assume they are there if the report is true.
If the report is true, Moscow (Putin) is feeling froggy again.