Ukrainian servicemen ride in a tank close to the airport in the eastern city of Donetsk, a facility which has been the site of intense fighting for several weeks.
Reuters images of the wreckage of the IL-76 Ukrainian army transport plane shot down over Luhansk, killing scores of troops. The men in the photos are identified as rebels. Seems to say a lot about Luhansk that Ukrainian authorities retrieved the bodies then left, allowing separatist gunmen to salvage ammunition and weapons from the scene.
NATO said the images showed Russian tanks arrived at a staging area close to the Ukraineborder days before similar tanks appeared this week in areas of eastern Ukraine under separatist control, but where they came from is in dispute.
13:4914.6.2014
And here's the conclusion in NATO's own words:
On the 11th of June, 10 main battle tanks can be seen at the site. 3 of these are parked, 4 are in the training area, and 3 are loaded heavy equipment transport trucks that are normally used to move tanks, likely indicating imminent movement by road.
On the 12th of June, Ukrainian officials report that 3 main battle tanks and several armoured vehicles crossed the border at the Dovzhanskyy border crossing, which was under the control of pro-Russian elements of the so-called "People’s Republic of Luhansk.” Sightings of these tanks were later reported in open sources in Snizhne and then Makiivka, near Donetsk. The tanks do not bear markings or camouflage paint like those used by the Ukrainian military. In fact, they do not have markings at all, which is reminiscent of tactics used by Russian elements that were involved in destabilising Crimea.
