Report: Russian troops, equipment entering Ukraine

KIEV, Ukraine, Jan. 20 (UPI) -- Russian military troops have crossed the border into Ukraine, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk told state-run radio.

"I have just spoken with the national defense and security council secretary. Ukrainian military intelligence confirm the fact military personnel and equipment have been transferred from Russia to Ukraine. Tanks, GRAD multiple rocket systems, BUK and SMERCH systems, radio electronic intelligence systems are not sold at local Donetsk street markets. Only the Russian army and Defense Ministry have them," he said Monday.

The announcement came as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) observers in the conflict in eastern Ukraine between government forces and pro-Russian separatists, said security conditions in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, scenes of the heaviest fighting and casualties, have worsened.

"What our monitors have been reporting is a serious deterioration of the security situation in the past few days with an increase in ceasefire violations. One of our biggest concerns is, of course, the civilians getting caught up in the conflict, especially in and around Donetsk airport. Fighting is moving further and further into Donetsk city. What we've been seeing, very sadly, over the past few days as reported by our monitors is also children being caught up in the conflict: deaths, injuries, the inability to go to school," OSCE spokesman Michael Bociurkiw told the BBC.

Artillery fire was reported Monday, a Donetsk hospital was struck, and several Ukrainian soldiers were injured when a ceiling collapsed at the Donetsk airport, the scene of heavy fighting and casualties for weeks, which each side claims has been captured.