Russia is building up forces on its border with Ukraine, and separatists, backed by Russian "mercenaries", are firing on Ukrainian border guards in an attempt to bring armoured vehicles into the country, a Ukrainian military spokesman said on Monday, according to Reuters. Accusing Russia of embarking on a course of escalation in Ukraine's eastern regions, National and Security Council spokesman Andriy Lysenko told journalists: "In the past 24 hours, deployment of (Russian) units and military equipment across the border from the Sumy and Luhansk border points was noticed. The Russian Federation continues to build up troops on the border." In the early hours of Monday, separatists had fired on border guards and the armed forces near the border settlement of Dyakove, one of several attacks on border guards as "terrorists and Russian mercenaries" tried to bring in armoured vehicles and equipment, he said. "The events of the last few days show that the Russian side has embarked on a course of escalation of the conflict in the Donbass," he said.
