The 'humanitarian' cargo has been held up at the border since Thursday, awaiting approval from customs agents.
In a video posted on the Internet, and quoted by the news agency AFP, the separatist leader Alexander Zakharchenko said the new troops had had "four months of training on Russian territory," and had "been brought in at the most crucial moment." Ukraine's government forces have made significant gains in recent months, and are close to encircling the largest rebel-held city of Donetsk, while Luhansk is reportedly suffering severe shortages of food and medical supplies. Meanwhile, a rebel leader in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk on Friday said 150 armored vehicles and 1,200 fighters had been sent from Russia as reinforcements.
The United Nations has estimated that more than 2,000 people have died in the conflict so far, with nearly 5,000 wounded. More than 285,000 people have fled their homes in the east. Read more here.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ukraine’s president Petro Porshenko have discussed deliveries of weapons to separatists, allegedly from Moscow. The top diplomats from Russia and Ukraine will meet in Berlin on Sunday.
Meanwhile, a new movement has become the fashion out of Kyiv. Get your bracelet, t-shirt or bumper sticker here, and join the millions who are saying it in style:
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