Ukraine says it has regained control of border with Russia

Ukrainian forces have restored control of the border with Russia and can now prevent military equipment being brought across the frontier to support pro-Russian separatists, acting Defence Minister Mykhailo Koval said on Friday. [caption id=“attachment_1580643” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] AP[/caption] “Our forces have completed the encirclement of the problem region and restored the state border of Ukraine. Last week we fully closed off the possibility of any military equipment being brought in from the Russian Federation,” Koval told parliament. Meanwhile, seven Ukrainian troops were killed in overnight fighting in the restive east, Ukrainian officials said. Rebels were operating tanks in the region, a particular sore spot for Ukraine, which accuses Russia of letting the vehicles cross the border. Vladislav Seleznev, spokesman for Ukrainian forces in the east, said the seven soldiers had been killed since Thursday and 30 injured in fighting against pro-Russian separatists outside the village of Yampil in the Donetsk region. He said 300 rebels were killed, but that could not be immediately verified. An Associated Press reporter saw pro-Russian fighters moving in a column with two tanks and three armored personnel carriers near the town of Yanakiyeve in the direction of the town of Horlikva in the Donetsk region. The tanks flew small flags of a pro-Russian militia but otherwise had no markings. The fighters declined to say what they were doing, other than that it was a “secret operation.” Russian President Vladimir Putin has voiced concern about the Ukrainian military onslaught, while NATO on Thursday reported that Russia was resuming a military build-up at the Ukrainian border. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko discussed details of his peace plan in a telephone call to Putin on Thursday. Poroshenko’s office said he emphasized the need for introducing effective border controls and quickly releasing hostages. Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said Russian officials were surprised at Western expressions of concern over the renewed troop buildup, saying it was merely a previously announced measure to tighten border controls. “This is not a matter of some sort of concentration of forces, but of the strengthening of border controls of the Russian Federation, " Peskov was quoted as saying by the Itar-Tass news agency. The UN says at least 356 people, including 257 civilians, have been killed since May 7 in eastern Ukraine. AP and Reuters