Here's an update from our news desk on the Russian soldier who were purportedly captured in Ukraine after crossing the border from Russia:
A Russian Defense Ministry source says the Russian servicemen reportedly captured by Ukrainian forces in southeastern Ukraine accidentally crossed the Russian-Ukrainian border.
The unidentified source told Russian news agencies that they were on patrol when they inadvertently crossed an unmarked section of the border.
But the Ukrainian security service says the 10 troops are 98th Airborne Division paratroopers captured near the village of Dzerkalne, about 50 kilometers southeast of the city of Donetsk.
The Ukrainian military released a video purportedly showing some of the soldiers, who it said are being questioned as part of a criminal probe.
Earlier yesterday, the Ukrainian Army said Russian forces disguised as separatists crossed from Russia with 10 tanks and two armored personnel carriers but were attacked by Ukrainian troops and stopped outside Novoazovsk.
Kyiv has long accused Moscow of supporting the rebels in Ukraine, a charge Russia denies.
(Interfax, ITAR-TASS, Reuters)
Aleksandr Golts has been writing for "The Moscow Times" about the upcoming summit in Minsk. He is not too hopeful of a positive outcome:
The main problem is that it remains unclear exactly what might serve as the basis of a compromise between Russia and Ukraine.
With Ukrainian forces embroiled in street battles in Donetsk and Luhansk, Kiev apparently hopes to win by military means and is demanding that Moscow cease its support for the separatists. But Moscow, for its part, seems unwilling to stop supplying the separatists with weapons.
The Kremlin instead hopes to freeze the conflict in its current stage, essentially giving legitimacy to the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk and creating a Bosnia scenario in which ethnic divisions are legitimized.
Moscow clearly has no intention of reducing its support for the separatists, and it is no coincidence that reports of the upcoming meeting between Putin and Poroshenko were almost immediately followed by media reports that a Russian tactical force of 1,200 armed men and about 100 pieces of military hardware had entered Luhansk. Several days later, Donetsk separatists announced that they had formed several military units, including two tank battalions and several artillery battalions.
Read the entire artticle here.
Well well well. Interfax suggesting that Stroitransgaz, owned by Putin buddy Timchenko, will be chosen to build bridge across Kerch strait
— Oliver Carroll (@olliecarroll) August 26, 2014
At eastern checkpoint into Mariupol, excavators are digging deep trenches. City calm, but preparations for onslaught evidently in motion
— pete_leonard (@pete_leonard) August 26, 2014
At eastern checkpoint into Mariupol, excavators are digging deep trenches. City calm, but preparations for onslaught evidently in motion
— pete_leonard (@pete_leonard) August 26, 2014
Russia quietly burying its troops recently killed in Ukraine http://t.co/zuj0jJ4BBp via @novaya_gazeta pic.twitter.com/CTLOGX6oHk
— Ryskeldi Satke (@RyskeldiSatke) August 26, 2014
The U.S. Army vet Mark Gregory Paslawsky (aka "Franko") who died fighting pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine is being buried today. Here's a tweet from his funeral in Kyiv.
У Києві провели в останню путь бійця 'Донбасу' з позитивним 'Франко'. Марк Паславський загинув 19… http://t.co/E3YQrcplFa
— andrii bashtovyi (@nomoreanry) August 26, 2014
Belarusia hopes to benefit as host of Ukraine-Russia talks http://t.co/4DAJOSBaej
— The Guardian (@guardian) August 26, 2014
Putin arrives in Belarus ahead of summit with #Ukraine http://t.co/oRWY0k15qR pic.twitter.com/Q9cguM23PR
— ITV News (@itvnews) August 26, 2014
!!! BREAKING NEWS !!!
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian Petro Poroshenko shook hands at the start of multilateral talks in Minsk, the first time the two presidents have met since June.