Translation: "What they're talking about is forbidding the entry of the other Kiselyov."
From Reuters, by Maria Tsvetkova and Aleksandar Vasovic
ORBATENKO, Ukraine, Oct 23 (Reuters) -- The burnt-out remains of dozens of tanks and armoured vehicles in fields near this small village bear witness to the ferocity of a battle that turned the tide of the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
Most of the tanks were used by the government forces routed in August near Horbatenko, 40 kilometers southeast of the rebel stronghold of Donetsk, a defeat so demoralising that days later Kiev agreed a ceasefire with pro-Russian separatists.
But among the debris Reuters found the blackened carcasses of what military experts have since identified as two Russian army tanks, supporting statements by Kiev and the West that the rebels were backed by troops and equipment sent by Moscow.
Moscow denies the accusations though the rebels had been on the brink of defeat until late August, when the Ukrainian government says they received an injection of soldiers and weapons from Russia.
Reuters showed photographs of the two badly damaged tanks, one of which had lost its turret, to four independent military experts, who said they were of a type used exclusively by the Russian army.
Just in from Reuters:
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk on Thursday warned of possible attempts by Russia to disrupt Sunday's parliamentary election in Ukraine and ordered a full security mobilization to prevent "terrorist acts" being carried out.
"It is clear that attempts to destabilize the situation will continue and be provoked by the Russian side. They did not succeed during the presidential election (in May) ... but their plans have remained," he told a meeting of top security chiefs and election monitors.
"We need ... full mobilization of the whole law-enforcement system to prevent violations of the election process and any attempts at terrorist acts during the elections," he said.
Yatsenyuk's warning was likely to heighten tension before Sunday's poll, the first parliamentary election since the Euromaidan street protests last winter, which drove Moscow-backed leader Viktor Yanukovych to flee to Russia.
From the German news agency dpa:
Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine said Thursday
that they intend to retake key cities from government troops in the region, according to Russian news agencies.
"Kramatorsk, Mariupol, Sloviansk will be ours. We are ready to
capture them. Heavy battles are not excluded," Alexander
Zakharchenko, the leader of the self-declared Donetsk People's
Republic, was quoted as saying.
The three cities returned to government control in the summer, after separatist militias gave them up. The takeover in Kramatorsk and Sloviansk occurred after heavy artillery battles between both sides.
Zakharchenko also accused the government of violating the ceasefire in the region.
Both sides have regularly accused each other of breaking the
ceasefire since it was reached on September 5.
The Ukrainian National Security Council said in Kiev on Thursday that one soldier was killed and two injured in fighting over the past 24 hours.
Fighting has centred on Donetsk airport in recent weeks. Donetsk authorities said Thursday that shelling could be heard widely through the city.
More than 3,600 people have been killed in the conflict since it
started in April, according to United Nations figures.
Ukraine is holding snap parliamentary elections this Sunday. The
party of President Petro Poroshenko is leading in polls with up to a third of the votes.
Poroshenko discussed the conflict and the ongoing gas talks with
Russia with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, his office said
Thursday. The leaders spoke over the telephone late Wednesday.
Also on Wednesday, Poroshenko discussed financial assistance from the European Union with outgoing EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.
The EU's aid for the cash-strapped country will reach 760 million
euros (960 million dollars), Barroso told Poroshenko, according to the Ukrainian leader's office.