By Anadolu Agency
A Russian military convoy was seen moving towards the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday. The convoy with nearly 200 military vehicles was seen near the Kuibyshevo settlement in the Rostov region of Russia while it was advancing towards the border with the Donbas region.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter: “Worrying reports from Crimea on the entire night shift of Titan chemicals plant in Armyansk evacuated from the facility.
“This might be a preparation for another staged provocation by Russia. Moscow seems to have no limits in attempts to falsify pretexts for further aggression.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday announced that Moscow was recognizing two Ukrainian breakaway regions, Luhansk and Donetsk, as independent states, followed quickly by sending Russian forces there to “maintain peace.”
The announcements drew widespread global condemnation as violations of the UN Charter and international law, with Western countries announcing new sanctions on Russia. In 2014, after invading Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, Moscow began to support separatist forces in eastern Ukraine against the central government, a policy that it has maintained for the past seven years. The conflict has taken more than 13,000 lives, according to the UN.
Putin’s latest moves follow Russia amassing more than 100,000 troops and heavy equipment in and around its neighbor, with the US and Western countries accusing it of setting the stage for an invasion.
Russia has denied it is preparing an invasion and instead claimed Western countries undermined its security through NATO’s expansion toward its borders.