Ukraine claims troops crossed border from Russia

MARIUPOL, Ukraine, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- The Ukrainian military said Monday it was fighting a column of armored vehicles that recently crossed the Russian border into southeast Ukraine.

It added the vehicles of the pro-Russian separatist movement were stopped at the town of Novoazovsk, on their way to a purported opening of a second front at the southeastern city of Mariupol.

The majority of the fighting between the Ukrainian military and rebels thus far has been in the northeastern part of Ukraine.

The claim comes a day before Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin are scheduled to hold a one-day summit meeting in Minsk, Belarus. Military spokesman Col. Andriy Lysenko said 10 tanks, two armored vehicles and two trucks crossed the border; various witnesses claimed they saw between 10 and 30 vehicles.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he was unaware of the claimed entry into Ukrainian territory, but was critical of what he termed regular "disinformation about our 'incursions.'"

Lavrov added a second convoy of humanitarian aid to Ukraine was being prepared, after a convoy of 220 trucks passed from Russia into Ukraine last week without inspection from Ukraine or the Red Cross. The border crossing was condemned by the United States, the European Union and NATO. Poroshenko called it a "blatant violation of international law," and Ukraine's Security Service chief referred to it as a "direct invasion" by Russia.