Rebel leader in east Ukraine announces civilian evacuation

Ukrainian servicemen walk on an armoured fighting vehicle during an exercise in a Joint Forces Operation controlled area in the Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine (Vadim Ghirda/AP)

Separatists in eastern Ukraine have announced they are evacuating civilians to Russia, as spiking tensions in the region aggravated Western fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine and a new war in Europe.

It was the latest in a cascade of developments this week that have brought East-West relations to their lowest point in decades.