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| Kiev says three Russian tanks entered east Ukraine | Kiev says three Russian tanks entered east Ukraine |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Ukraine's interior minister has said that three tanks have crossed the border from Russia into rebel areas of the east and fighting is under way. | Ukraine's interior minister has said that three tanks have crossed the border from Russia into rebel areas of the east and fighting is under way. |
| The tanks entered Ukraine along with other armour through a checkpoint controlled by rebels in the Luhansk region, Arsen Avakov said. | The tanks entered Ukraine along with other armour through a checkpoint controlled by rebels in the Luhansk region, Arsen Avakov said. |
| Ukrainian forces engaged two of them and fighting is under way, he said. | Ukrainian forces engaged two of them and fighting is under way, he said. |
| There was no confirmation from the rebels, who reported a Ukrainian government tank attack near Luhansk. | There was no confirmation from the rebels, who reported a Ukrainian government tank attack near Luhansk. |
| Pro-Russian separatists in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, Ukraine's industrial heartland, declared independence after holding referendums last month which were deemed illegal by the government in Kiev. | |
| The rebellion began amid the turmoil which followed the downfall in February of the elected Ukrainian President, Viktor Yanukovych, whose pro-Moscow policies sparked mass street protests in Kiev during the winter. | |
| 'Column destroyed' | |
| Mr Avakov said the tanks had crossed the border from Russia along with armoured troop carriers in the Dyakove area of Luhansk region before moving into the neighbouring Donetsk region. | |
| There, Ukraine's interior minister said, the tanks headed for the town of Snizhne on Thursday morning. Two then proceeded to the town of Horlivka and were attacked by government forces. | |
| "The fight is under way," Mr Avakov said. "I cannot say about its final outcome, but part of this column has been destroyed." | |
| Unverified video has been posted on YouTube of a battle tank rolling down a street said to be in Snizhne. The footage was shot from a flat overlooking the street. | |
| A second clip, also said to have been recorded in Snizhne, shows a similar tank passing a roundabout. | |
| A rebel spokesman told Russia's Ria-Novosti news agency that rebels were fighting a force of 40 Ukrainian tanks north of the city of Luhansk. | |
| The tanks had been stopped at the village of Makarovo, the spokesman said. |