Ukrainian forces were given orders to retreat from the airport in Luhansk, the second-largest rebel-held city, in the face of an intensifying assault, Ukrainian National Security Council spokesman Col. Andriy Lysenko said on Monday, blaming the assault on “professional artillery gunmen of the Russian armed forces.”

Russia consistently denies allegations that it has sent troops or equipment into Ukraine. But Lysenko said Monday that “not less than four battalions and tactical groups of the Russian armed forces are active in Ukraine.”

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A Ukrainian serviceman shoots during fighting with pro-Russian separatists in the eastern Ukrainian town of Ilovaysk August 26, 2014. Maks Levin/Reuters

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that Russian forces had been deployed in Ukrainian territory amid claims that around 15,000 Russian soldiers have been sent to the Donetsk region. Poroshenko cancelled a visit to Turkey and called an urgent meeting of the Ukrainian Defence and Security Council over what he called the “rapidly deteriorating situation” in Eastern Ukraine.

The 15,000 estimate was made by Russian organisation Soldier’s Mothers which establishes contact between military personnel on duty and their families.

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At least 129 soldiers and fighters of the National Guard of Ukraine surrendered to the militia in the village of Starobeshevo, the Donetsk region.

“In the militia-controlled settlement of Starobeshevo, the Donetsk region, 129 Ukrainian servicemen and National Guard fighters voluntarily surrendered in the morning on August 27,” representatives of headquarters of the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Donetsk told RIA Novosti.

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Ukraine’s military says dozens of people have been killed after a convoy carrying refugees from the eastern, rebel-held city of Luhansk was hit by pro-Russian separatists.

The rebels deny responsibility but Ukrainian officials say victims were burned alive as rocket fire hit their buses.

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The rebel leader in Donetsk has said a column of military hardware is on its way to eastern Ukraine from Russia. Meanwhile, his fighters appeared to bolster their positions on the front lines, where they are fighting pitched battles with government forces in a desperate attempt to hold onto their ever-shrinking territory.

Alexander Zakharchenko, the newly appointed prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, said during a meeting with separatist leaders that a column of military vehicles with weapons and personnel was advancing toward the Ukrainian frontier from Russia.

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