Ukraine destroys Russian military vehicles

Kiev says its artillery has hit column of armoured
carriers that crossed from Russia as NATO
confirms "incursion" .
Ukrainian security forces have attacked and
destroyed military vehicles that were part of a
column that crossed from Russia into eastern
Ukraine, the office of Ukrainian President Petro
Poroshenko has said in a statement .
Poroshenko discussed reports of the incursion of
armoured personnel carriers from Russia with
British Prime Minister David Cameron and said
that a "considerable part of this equipment was
destroyed overnight by Ukrainian artillery ".
The latest incident has signalled the worsening of
the country 's conflict with pro -Russian
separatists who took over parts of eastern
Ukraine, as Kiev accuses Moscow's military of
arming and backing the fighters.
Earlier on Friday , NATO secretary - general
Anders Fogh Rasmussen confirmed witnessing the
Russian " incursion" into Ukraine, which Russia
denies.
During a visit to Denmark' s capital Copenhagen,
Fogh Rasmussen told reporters : "I can confirm
that last night we saw an incursion [ into ]
Ukraine." Rasmussen did not give details of the
alleged incursion but said "what we have seen
last night is the continuation of what we have
seen for some time".
Russia' s federal security service said Russian
forces are patrolling the border area but denied
that military vehicles had moved into Ukraine.
Moscow has accused Kiev of attempting to disrupt
a Russian humanitarian aid mission to eastern
Ukraine and called for a ceasefire in the region
to allow for the deliveries .
"We draw attention to the sharp intensification
of military action by Ukrainian forces with the
apparent aim to stop the path , agreed on with
Kiev , of a humanitarian convoy across the
Russia- Ukraine border , " the Russian foreign
ministry said in a statement .
Envoy summoned
Britain said it summoned Ambassador Alexander
Yakovenko to clarify the reports of the Russian
military invasion.
Earlier , Russia let Ukrainian officials inspect an
aid convoy while it was still on Russian soil on
Friday and agreed that the Red Cross can
distribute the goods in Ukraine's rebel - held city
of Luhansk. The twin moves aimed to dispel
Ukrainian fears that the operation was a ruse to
get military help to the pro- Russian separatists .
Russia had sent the convoy of 280 aid trucks
towards a border crossing under the control of
pro- Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine,
raising the prospect that it could enter without
being inspected by Ukraine or the Red Cross .
Al Jazeera 's Emma Hayward , reporting from
Slovyansk , said fighting was continuing in
eastern Ukraine and that 14 people had been
killed in the past 24 hours in Donetsk and
Luhansk.
She said the convoy, carrying what Russian
authorities say is much - need aid for people in
eastern Ukraine, was still on the Russian border .
"An agreement has been made which will see the
convoy move into Ukrainian territory , but it will
not have [ Russian ] military escort, " she said .
Amid the tensions , AP reporters saw dozens of
Russian military trucks and armoured personnel
carriers moving on Friday around the area where
the trucks were parked , about 28 km from the
border in a Russian field .
Russia said that Russian forces were patrolling
the border but denied that military vehicles had
crossed into Ukraine.
The fighting in eastern Ukraine has claimed
nearly 2 , 100 lives , half of those in the past few
weeks. It began in April , a month after Putin
annexed Ukraine' s Black Sea peninsula of
Crimea