NATO Claims Russian Military Convoys Enter Ukraine

NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe Gen. Philip Breedlove giving a lecture at the Central Military Club in Sofia, Bulgaria, 12 November 2014. Photo BGNES

NATO has sighted Russian military convoys entering into Ukraine over the past two days, Supreme Allied Commander Europe Gen. Philip Breedlove said in Sofia on Wednesday.

NATO has seen what the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has observed – Russian military columns comprising  tanks, artillery pieces, air defence systems and combat troops entering into Ukraine, Gen. Breedlove said during a lecture at the Central Military Club in Sofia focused on the Alliance's development strategy outlined at the summit in Wales in September.

On Tuesday, European observers in eastern Ukraine reported seeing an unmarked military convoy near Donetsk, a stronghold of pro-Russian separatists. Moscow has repeatedly denied Russian military are aiding the rebels.

NATO’s military commander said that what worried him most was that the border with Russia in rebel-controlled territories in eastern Ukraine was “completely porous” and “completely wide-open”.

"Forces, money, support, supplies, weapons are flowing back and forth across this border completely at will," Breedlove said.

Russia's Defence Ministry dismissed Breedlove's statements as groundless.

"We've already stopped taking note of the unfounded statements by NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, Gen. Philip Breedlove, on Russian military columns he supposedly saw intrude the Ukrainian territory," ITAR-TASS news agency quoted Defence Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov as saying.

Gen. Breedlove started a two-day visit to Sofia on Wednesday. The programme of the visit includes meetings with newly-appointed Defence Minister Nikolay Nenchev and Vice Admiral Rumen Nikolov, who was appointed Chief of Defence in June.

Irrespective of all strategies and concepts, Gen. Breedlove said, military power remains the basis of security. Having this in mind, NATO member Bulgaria should gradually increase its defence spending to reach 2% of GDP in line with recommendations of the Wales summit.

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