The Pentagon's spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby, says he has "no independent operational reporting" to confirm Kyiv’s claim that Russia sent an armored column into eastern Ukraine on November 6.
Kirby said the Pentagon can confirm "a continued presence " of unhelpful Russian battalion tactical groups "right across the border" in Russian territory that is "doing nothing to decrease the tension in the region."
Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko says a Russian column with 32 Russian tanks, 16 howitzer artillery pieces, and 30 trucks of ammunition and soldiers, crossed into eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk region on November 6.
He said another Russian column of trucks and mobile radar stations crossed into Ukraine at a nearby border point.
NATO says that if the deployments are confirmed, it would be further evidence of Moscow's direct military support for pro-Russian separatists who continue to fight Ukrainian government forces despite a September 5 cease-fire agreement.
