Kyiv is claiming that in the early hours of Friday morning a Russian armoured column entered Ukrainian territory and was attacked and partly destroyed by Ukrainian forces. <br /><br />The Russian Defence Ministry denied it and called the claim “some kind of fantasy” but NATO’s Secretary General seemed convinced. Anders Fogh Rasmussen said: “I can confirm that last night we saw a Russian incursion, a crossing of the Ukrainian border. It just confirms the fact that we see a continuous flow of weapons and fighters from Russia into the Eastern Ukraine.”<br /><br />Kyiv and its Western allies have repeatedly accused Russia of arming separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine, and of sending undercover military units across the border.<br /><br />If an incursion is confirmed and the government is able to show the remains of Russian military vehicles destroyed on its territory that would bolster Ukranian’s allegations and mark a dramatic worsening of the conflict.<br /><br />The United Nations said it could not verify the reports from the Ukrainian border but called for an immediate de-escalation.
