Ukraine hits Russia armoured column amid aid impasse

Ukraine says it has partially destroyed an armoured column crossing from Russia, as a controversial Russian aid convoy still waits at the border.

Nato said the column was a Russian military “incursion”, prompting the UK to summon Russia’s envoy to explain.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian border guards have arrived to inspect the aid convoy. aimed at helping eastern Ukraine cities now held by pro-Russian rebels.

Russia says Ukraine has increased its military actions to hamper the convoy.

The incursion by Russian military vehicles into Ukraine was witnessed on Thursday by two UK newspaper reporters.

The BBC’s Daniel Sandford in Moscow says the crossing was a reminder of the extent to which the Kremlin has been backing the rebellion in eastern Ukraine.

It is not known whether the troops moving with the military column were Russian or pro-Russian separatists.

Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko said on his presidential website that he had discussed the incident with UK Prime Minister David Cameron.

Poroshenko said the information was “trustworthy and confirmed because the majority of the machines had been eliminated by the Ukrainian artillery at night”.

Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for the Ukrainian military, added: “Appropriate actions were undertaken and a part of it no longer exists.”

The UK Foreign Office summoned Russian Ambassador Alexander Yakovenko “to clarify reports of Russian military incursion”.

Meanwhile Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin sent out a tweet saying he would be meeting Russia’s Sergei Lavrov in Berlin on Sunday, along with their French and German counterparts, adding: “We need to talk.”

Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said: “We see a continuous flow of weapons and fighters from Russia into eastern Ukraine, and it is a clear demonstration of continued Russian involvement in [its] destabilisation.”

Later, EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels issued a statement saying: “Any unilateral military actions on the part of the Russian Federation in Ukraine under any pretext, including humanitarian, will be considered by the European Union as a blatant violation of international law.”

Russia’s government has consistently denied directly arming or training the rebels, who sparked the conflict in eastern Ukraine in April when they took control of several cities.