From our news desk:
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that claims about an upsurge in Russian military activity on the border with Ukraine have “nothing to do with the reality.”
Peskov added that Russia is ready to send a second humanitarian aid convoy to eastern Ukraine "even tomorrow."
An earlier convoy entered Ukrainian territory last week without Kyiv's permission, raising tensions between the West and Moscow.
Peskov also said Russia is and will be a reliable supplier of natural gas to Europe, following warnings from Kyiv that Moscow could cut off fuel to the continent this winter.
"We hope that Ukraine in turn will guarantee unhindered transit," he added.
More from U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki at a press briefing in Washington, D.C.:
"There were reports of additional columns of Russian tanks, multiple rocket launchers, and armored vehicles pushing toward communities in southeastern Ukraine. We've also seen reports of separatists shelling residential areas in a costal town between the border and Mariupol. We have seen reports of heavy fighting and shelling near the city and airport in Donetsk. These incursions indicate a Russian directed counteroffensive is likely under way in Donetsk and Luhansk."
"We are also concerned by the Russian government's unwillingness to tell the truth even as its soldiers are found 30 miles [48 kilometers] inside Ukraine. Russia is sending its young men into Ukraine but are not telling them where they are going or telling their parents what they are doing."
LATEST from our news desk:
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki says reports "indicate that a Russia-directed counteroffensive is likely under way" in Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
LATEST from our news desk:
Kyiv says it is sending reinforcements to a Ukrainian town on the Sea of Azov, about 10 kilometers from the Russian border, after the town's mayor said separatists entered the town with support from dozens of armored vehicles.
Ukrainian security spokesman Andriy Lysenko on August 27 said government troops were being sent to Novoazovsk, two days after he claimed Russian tanks invaded southeastern Ukraine disguised as pro-Russian separatist fighters.
Lysenko said Russian artillery continued to support the battle at Novoazovsk by firing across the border from Russian territory.
He also said on August 27 that a Russian "tactical battalion" -- a battlefield command-and-control unit -- was positioned near Novoazovsk at the Ukrainian village of Pobeda.
Moscow denies sending troops into Ukraine, claiming Russian paratroopers captured by Ukrainian forces in recent days had "inadvertently" crossed the border.