Russian incursion into Ukraine a ‘fantasy’

Ukraine said its artillery destroyed part of a Russian armoured column that entered its territory on Thursday night and said its forces came under shellfire from Russia yesterday in what appeared to be a major military escalation between the ex-Soviet states.

Russia’s government denied its forces had crossed into Ukraine, calling the Ukrainian report “some kind of fantasy”, and raised its own concerns about activity by the US-led Nato alliance near its borders.

Moscow accused Kiev of trying to sabotage aid deliveries to eastern areas torn by fighting between pro-Russian separatists and the Western-backed government of Moscow’s former satellite.