21.14 Obama speaks on Ukraine crisis
President Obama said he has spoken to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and agreed that Russia is responsible for the violence in Ukraine.
He said Russia is already more isolated "than at any time since the end of the Cold War".
Mr Obama said he will welcome Ukraine's president Petro Poroshenko to the White House next month to confirm America’s “unwavering commitment” to Ukraine.
US and allies will discuss “additional steps” at Nato summit next week.
20.42 Obama to make a statement
US President Barack Obama will make a statement at 4:00pm (20.00 GMT), likely addressing the Ukraine crisis. Watch here .
20.07 Russian ambassador response
Vitaly Churkin, the Russian Federation ambassador to the UN, says that tensions in Ukraine stem from "Kiev's war on its own people".
He says the United States should "stop interfering in the internal affairs of sovereign states".
19.59 Watch UN meeting on Ukraine
You can watch the UN security council meeting on the UN website here
19.52 US ambassador: "Russia has to stop lying"
Samantha Power, the US ambassador to the UN, said Russian troops were in Ukraine and that Russian forces massed on the Ukrainian border were at their largest numbers since May.
"Russia has to stop lying and has to stop fueling this conflict. The mask is coming off," she said.
The ambassador said European countries needed to press on with sanctions on Russia even if they cost economic damage. "In the face of this threat, the cost of inaction is unacceptable."
19.35 UN Security Council meets on Ukraine crisis
A UN Security meeting on Ukraine is underway. UN Undersecretary-General of Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman told council members, as the meeting began, that the latest developments mark a "dangerous escalation in the conflict".
19.16 US: "pattern of escalating agression" by Russia
The US State Department says it is seeing a "pattern of escalating agression" by Russia in Ukraine, reports Reuters, and is discussing options in response.
19.00 Here is a summary of key developments today in the Ukraine crisis:
- Ukraine's president Petro Poroshenko said on Thursday that Russian troops had entered his country in support of pro-Moscow rebels who captured a key coastal town, sharply escalating a five-month-old separatist war.
- Mr Poroshenko described the situation as "extraordinarily difficult ... but controllable", as security chiefs announced that mandatory army conscription will restart in the autumn.
- Russia's defence ministry again denied the presence of its soldiers in Ukraine, even as two human rights advisers to President Vladimir Putin said more than 100 Russian troops had died there in a single attack on Aug. 13.
- Prime Minister David Cameron said: "It is simply not enough to engage in talks in Minsk, while Russian tanks continue to roll over the border into Ukraine. Such activity must cease immediately."
- Nato believes more than 1,000 Russian troops are operating inside Ukraine.
- German Chancellor Angela Merkel said an EU summit this weekend would discuss the possibility of further sanctions.
- Russia's ruble sunk to a five-month low as stock markets in the country plummeted over the possibility of new Western sanctions against Moscow.
18.05 NATO envoys to hold emergency meeting Friday over Ukraine: diplomat
Ambassadors to Nato will hold an emergency meeting in Brussels on Friday morning to discuss reports that Russia had sent troops into Ukraine, a diplomatic source told AFP.
The meeting of the 28 ambassadors will take place at Nato headquarters at 0700GMT and will be followed by talks with an envoy to the alliance from Ukraine, the source said on Thursday.
17.50 BREAKING Ukraine to introduce conscription
Reuters is reporting that Ukraine is to re-introduce compulsory military service from this autumn, though conscripts will not serve in eastern Ukraine's conflict zone. It is a Ukrainian security council decision quoted by Interfax news agency.
17.38 Ban Ki-moon 'alarmed' by reports
The UN is urging the world to deescalate the situation in Ukraine.
In a statement online, the UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, said:
The Secretary-General is alarmed by reports that fighting in eastern Ukraine has spread southward, near the border of the Sea of Azov and the Russian Federation. If confirmed, this will mark a dangerous escalation in the Ukrainian crisis.
The international community cannot allow the situation to escalate further nor can a continuation be allowed of the violence and destruction that the conflict has wrought in eastern Ukraine.
You can read his full statement here.
17.36 US military to send tanks to Eastern Europe for drills
US Army troops equipped with tanks will head to Eastern Europe soon to reassure NATO allies anxious over Russia's intervention in Ukraine, Pentagon officials said on Thursday, AFP reports.
About 600 troops from the 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division are due to deploy in October to Poland and the Baltic states for training exercises with alliance members, replacing paratroopers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade, said spokeswoman Lieutenant Colonel Vanessa Hillman.
"It's a three month rotation," she said. The drills are "focused on small unit and leader training."
17.29 Russia defence ministry denies military is operating in Ukraine
"We have noticed the launch of this informational 'canard' and are obliged to disappoint its overseas authors and their few apologists in Russia," a ministry official, General-Major Igor Konashenkov, told Interfax news agency.
"The information contained in this material bears no relation to reality."
17.27 Merkel says EU summit will discuss Russia sanctions
German chancellor Angela Merkel has given a news conference after talks with Balkan leaders.
"We are getting reports of an increased presence of Russian soldiers and of new unrest and fresh advances of the separatists in areas that until now were very quiet.
"We made it clear in March this year that if there were a further escalation, more sanctions would have to be discussed. So the issue will be on the agenda at the summit and we will have to ask ourselves how we will react."
Meanwhile, Reuters reports Italian PM Matteo Renzi had a telephone call with Putin.
"Referring to the very serious news of Russian troops entering Ukraine today, Prime Minister Renzi reiterated that this is an intolerable escalation and would have very grave consequences," Mr Renzi's office said in a statement.
17.22 'Putin holds us all in contempt over Ukraine'
The Telegraph's Peter Foster based in Washington has written an interesting piece about Putin's actions in Ukraine and how he is exploiting Europe's inaction. Here's an extract and you can find the full piece online here.
The Russian invasion is just piecemeal enough that Europe's leaders – with the acquiescence of their economically hard-pressed electorates - can quietly accept that they have no choice but to let it pass, albeit with a lot of huffing and puffing.
There are those who will argue (correctly) that this is short-sighted on Europe's part, but it is the cold reality. Mr Putin is not gambling here, since he has already made the decision that he is prepared to accept economic pain as the price of a project is fundamental to his vision of restoring Russian greatness.
The limits of Europe's options have been reflected in the careful choice of language the last few days – the talk is of "incursions" and "escalations", not "invasions", even though, as the Ukrainian president correctly points out, that is exactly what has happened.
16.52 More on Russian soldiers killed
Ella Polyakova and Sergei Krivenko, both members of the council, said around 300 people were also injured in the violence on August 13 near the town of Snizhnye in Donetsk Province, when a column of trucks full of ammunition they were driving was hit by a sustained volley of Grad missiles, Reuters reports.
"A column of Russian soldiers was attacked by Grad rockets and more 100 people died. It all happened in the city of Snizhnye in Donetsk Province," said Krivenko speaking by telephone. Polyakova said she had also been given the same figure, of more than 100, for the number of Russian soldiers killed in the attack.
16.43 BREAKING: More than 100 Russian soldiers killed
More than 100 Russian soldiers were killed in the August 13 battle in eastern Ukraine, according to two members of Russian president Vladimir Putin's human rights council. They cite witnesses and relatives of the dead for their claims, Reuters reports.
16.32 Russian columns enter Ukraine
Two columns of tanks and military vehicles rolled into southeastern Ukraine from Russia on Thursday after Grad missiles were fired at a border post and Ukraine's overmatched border guards fled, a top Ukrainian official said.
Echoing the comments by Ukraine's Col. Andriy Lysenko, a top NATO official said at least 1,000 Russian troops have poured into Ukraine with sophisticated equipment, leaving no doubt that the Russian military had invaded southeastern Ukraine.
"The hand from behind is becoming more and more overt now," Brig. Gen. Nico Tak said at NATO's military headquarters, adding that that Russia's ultimate aim was to stave off defeat for the separatists and turn eastern Ukraine into a "frozen conflict" that would destabilize the country indefinitely.
"An invasion is an invasion is an invasion," tweeted the Lithuanian ambassador to the U.N., Raimonda Murmokaite, who requested that the Security Council hold an emergency meeting on Ukraine on Thursday afternoon.
16.18 Poroshenko: Situation is "difficult but controllable"
Petro Poroshenko, speaking on Thursday after military losses by government forces, said the situation in the conflict zone in the east was "extraordinarily difficult ... but controllable," Interfax news agency quoted him as saying.
Mr Poroshenko, who was speaking at a meeting of top security chiefs after the key town of Novoazovsk fell to Russian-backed separatists, said Russian troops had come "to the rescue" of the rebels after Kiev's earlier military successes.
Separately, a military spokesman said Ukrainian forces had regrouped to defend the port city of Mariupol, west of Novoazovsk along the Sea of Azov coast, and had enough troops to stop it being taken.
16.04 Russian troops supporting separatists
Senior NATO official, Brigadier general Nico Tak, speaks during a press conference focused on Ukraine crisis, on August 28, 2014 at the Shape (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe) in Casteau, near Mons.
He said that "well over a thousand" Russian troops were operating inside Ukraine.
"They support separatists, fighting with them and fighting amongst them," the official said, adding that the supply of arms by Russia had increased in both "volume and quality".
15.59 Satellite imagery exposes Russian combat troops inside Ukraine
Earlier there were images shown which provide evidence of Russian troops inside Ukraine. Nato released the images to "provide concrete examples of Russian activity inside Ukraine.
The organisation adds they "are only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the overall scope of Russian troop and weapons movements".
“We have also detected large quantities of advanced weapons, including air defence systems, artillery, tanks, and armoured personnel carriers being transferred to separatist forces in Eastern Ukraine,” said Brigadier General Tak.
“The presence of these weapons along with substantial numbers of Russian combat troops inside Ukraine make the situation increasingly grave,” he said.
15.54 Cameron calls for immediate halt to Russian tanks crossing border
David Cameron has said he is "extremely concerned" about "mounting evidence" that Russian troops have made "large scale incursions" into the Ukraine, writes The Telegraph's Senior Political Correspondent, Steven Swinford.
He called the actions "provocative, unacceptable and illegal", and said it is "not enough" for Vladimir Putin to engage in talks while "tanks continue roll over the border.
He said: "President Putin has said that Russia is willing to find a peaceful solution to the conflict but this is not credible when Russia is supporting pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine with arms and troops.
It is simply not enough to engage in talks in Minsk, while Russian tanks continue to roll over the border into Ukraine. Such activity must cease immediately.
"We urge Russia to pursue a different path and to find a political solution to this crisis. If Russia does not, then she should be in no doubt that there will be further consequences."
15.49 Satellite images show Russian artillery
A satellite image provided to Reuters by Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) on August 28, 2014 and taken by DigitalGlobe on August 21, 2014 shows what is reported by SHAPE a presence of Russian Self-Propelled Artillery in Ukraine.
Defence Correspondent Ben Farmer has provided the captions for the images from Nato.
In the image, Russian military units moving in a convoy formation with self-propelled artillery in the area of Krasnodon, Ukraine, well inside territory controlled by Russian separatists. The image was captured on 21 August 2014. Nato said it was confident the equipment is Russian, because Ukrainian units have not yet penetrated this far into separatist controlled territory.
A handout photo provided on August 28, 2014 by DigitalGlobe via NATO allegedly shows a military deployment site captured on August 20, 2014 (R) on the Russian side of the border near Rostov-on-Don.
In the two pictures, (left and right) they show the military build-up on the Russian side of the border, near Rostov-on-Don, approximately 31 miles, from the Dovzhanskyy, Ukraine border crossing.
The image on the left was captured on 19 June 2014 and shows the area to be mostly empty. The image on the right was taken two months later (20 August 2014) and shows the same location. Russian main battle tanks, armored personnel carriers, cargo trucks and tented accommodations can all be clearly seen.
15.44 Forces clash with 'reconnaissance' group from Crimea
Ukraine said its forces had clashed with a reconnaissance group that had entered its territory from the Russian-controlled Crimean peninsula, AFP reports.
The National Security and Defence Council said the fighting had flared on Wednesday in the Kherson region of Ukraine just north of Crimea, and accused the Russian military of "establishing positions" nearby in the peninsula.
The claims sparked fears that Moscow could be plotting an offensive towards the Black Sea peninsula after Kiev accused Russian troops of seizing territory along Ukraine's eastern border, some 450 kilometres (280 miles away).
15.24 Video: Parents appeal to Putin
Family members of Russian paratroopers held captive in Ukraine have recorded a video address to Vladimir Putin, imploring the Russian president to secure their release as soon as possible, writes Tom Parfitt.
15.20 Parents’ anguish over captured soldiers
The Telegraph's Tom Parfitt has had an exclusive chat with the families of the soldiers who plead for Kremlin to return their sons, saying they were led into trouble ‘like blind mice’. Here's an extract of the longer piece found here.
Olga Garina drew a breath, looked straight into the camera and addressed Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia.
“In the name of Christ, I beg you: give me back my child, return him alive,” she said. “And all the other boys who are with him in captivity.”
As the Kremlin ties itself in knots denying involvement in the bloody conflict that rages in eastern Ukraine, news of the first Russian soldiers to die and be taken prisoner there is threatening to trigger public discontent.
Lyudmila Kocherena, a stout woman with red hair, said she used to trust the president, who is also commander-in-chief of Russia’s army.
“Two days ago everything was different,” she told the Telegraph. “I’m a patriot of my country and if the president and the minister of foreign affairs say none of our troops are in Ukraine, they’re only at the border, how can we not believe him? I love our president, honestly.
“But now we’ve all changed our opinion, because of this case. Now, of course, I believe our troops are taking part in a war.”
15.15 Obama to meet top security aides amid Ukraine crisis
President Obama will gather members of his National Security Council, which includes the secretaries of state and defence, intelligence chiefs and top military brass, in the secure Situation Room of the White House at 8pm GMT, officials said.
Vice President Joe Biden, who is traveling in Pennsylvania, will join the meeting by a remote secure line, AFP reports.
15.10 UN Security Council to hold emergency meeting on Ukraine
The UN Security Council is to hold an emergency meeting on Thursday on the Ukraine crisis following reports that Russia had sent hundreds of troops to shore up separatists in east Ukraine.
The session requested by Lithuania will be held at 4pm GMT at UN headquarters in New York, diplomats said.
13.29 Moscow admits 'one unit unintentially crossed'
Mr Kelin said: "There is only one unit of Russian soldiers as they unintentionally crossed the border a couple days ago," he said, referring to 10 paratroopers that Kiev said it had captured on Tuesday.
13.27 Moscow says 'no Russian soldiers' in Ukraine
Moscow's envoy to the OSCE has denied the claims Russian troops were in eastern Ukraine after an emergency meeting of the European security body to discuss developments in Ukraine.
"There are no Russian soldiers" in eastern Ukraine, Andrey Kelin told reporters.
13.23 Ukrainian PM blasts Vladimir Putin
Kiev called on the West for help after a counter-offensive from the southeast border with Russia appeared to smash through an army blockade around the separatist stronghold of Donetsk and threaten the government-held port city of Mariupol.
The gains by the separatist fighters come after weeks of government offensives that have seen troops push deep into the last rebel bastions in Ukraine's industrial heartland, AFP reports.
Ukraine's Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk blasted Russian President Vladimir Putin for having "deliberately unleashed a war in Europe" and called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting, a called echoed by Lithuania.
13.12 Russian troops supporting separatists - NATO
"We assess well over 1,000 Russian troops are now operating inside Ukraine," the officer said at NATO's military headquarters in southern Belgium. "They are supporting separatists (and) fighting with them."
Ukraine accused Russia on Thursday of bringing troops into the southeast of the country in support of pro-Moscow separatist rebels, Reuters reports.
13.03 Further sanctions on Russia needed
The chairman of the German parliament's foreign policy committee, Norbert Roettgen, told Reuters in an interview that further sanctions were needed as a preventative measure.
"There must be new sanctions as an answer and that needs to be discussed at the summit and, ideally, agreed to right away," Roettgen said. "Any hesitation would be seen by (Russian President Vladimir) Putin as European weakness that would encourage him to keep going."
"We've now got a situation in which it is clear that Russia is militarily present in Ukraine with tanks and soldiers
12.59 Over 1000 Russian troops in Ukraine
Nato believes more than 1,000 Russian troops are operating inside Ukraine, according to a Nato military officer, Reuters reports.
It comes after Alexander Zakharchenko said there were three to four thousand Russian troops in his ranks.
12.49 Kostiantyn Yelisieiev full statement
The Telegraph's Bruno Waterfield has sent this full statement from the ambassador of Ukraine to the EU, Kostiantyn Yelisieiev:
As of yesterday Russia has started an uncovered military invasion of Ukraine. Our sincere attempt to offer a hand of peace to Russia in Minsk got a cynical silly smile in response. The same night we witnessed the crossing of Ukrainian border by motorcades of Russian military vehicles and equipment. “Green men” without insignia, similar to those we saw in the Crimea, are flooding Ukraine.
Ukraine and the European Union must stop this war. We call for holding on 30 August a special extraordinary session of the European Council on Ukraine. Enough of connivance and appeasement of the aggressor! Solidarity must become absolute and undoubted. It should materialize in further resolute significant sanctions and large-scale military and technical assistance to Ukraine in order to stop the aggressor.
Now is the time when actions should replace words. Since the beginning of Russia’s aggression in February the Council approved 11 conclusions and the European Parliament adopted 4 resolutions urging Russia to respect the territorial integrity of Ukraine. Hasn’t it been enough to understand that words don’t matter to the Kremlin?
On the eve of the 75th anniversary of the beginning of the World War II, failure to prevent another war might prove to be much more tragic and harmful for the EU’s image than failure to distribute the leading EU portfolios among the Member States."
12.46 Europe must respond to crisis
Reuters is reporting that a senior German conservative lawmaker said Europe must respond to the escalation in Ukraine with new sanctions against Russia at the EU summit.
12.42 Intolerable if Russian troops entered Ukraine
French president Francois Hollande said it would be "intolerable and unacceptable" if it was proved true that Russian troops had entered Ukrainian territory, Reuters reports.
Meanwhile, on Twitter, Ukraine crisis tweeted this graphic showing the situation in eastern Ukraine.
12.38 Russia denies intervening in Ukraine
Russia denies intervening in Ukraine by arming the rebels or sending soldiers across the border. The defence ministry declined to comment on reports of Russian tanks in Novoazovsk.
"The Russian authorities clearly said many times there are no regular Russian troops there. Russia is not taking part in this armed conflict," said a Russian diplomatic source to Reuters.
12.36 Pro-Russian rebels seize coastal town
Pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine seized a key coastal town on Wednesday in a move which opened a dangerous new front against the Kiev government, Roland Oliphant writes.
Separatist forces flying the flag of the rebel Donetsk People's republic entered the coastal town of Novoazovsk, depriving Ukraine of control of its southernmost section of border with Russia and putting the insurgents within striking distance of the centre of regional government in Mariupol.
12.32 Urgent need for political solution, says EU
The European Union has said it is "extremely concerned" by reports of an incursion by Russian troops into Ukraine.
"We are extremely concerned by the latest developments, including reports on what is happening on the ground," Maja Kocijancic, spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, said at a news conference.
"We repeat our call on Russia to put an end to any form of border hostility and this obviously includes the flow of arms and military personnel into Ukraine," she said.
She said there was an urgent need for a political solution to the crisis on the eastern edge of the European Union.
Ms Kocijancic said EU leaders would discuss the developments in Ukraine at a summit on Saturday that is primarily tasked with filling top EU jobs, including the successor for Ms Ashton.
A firefighter walks in a school, which was engulfed in flames during what locals say was shelling by Ukrainian forces, in Donetsk.
12.23 BREAKING: Ukraine accuses Russia of 'direct invasion'
Ukraine's ambassador to the OSCE accused Russia of a "direct invasion" on Thursday following reports that Russian troops were active in the conflict-torn east of the country, AFP reports.
"We registered a direct invasion by the Russian military into the eastern regions of Ukraine," Ihor Prokopchuk told journalists following a special meeting of the European security body to discuss the latest developments in Ukraine.
Earlier, AFP reported the EU was 'extremely concerned' about reports of Russian incursion into Ukraine.
12.18 Russian forces 'brought into Ukraine'
Reuters has corrected its translation of Petro Poroshenko's statement.
"I made the decision to cancel a working visit to the Republic of Turkey in connection with the rapidly deteriorating situation in Donetsk region, in particular in Amvrosiyivka and Starobesheve, as Russian troops have actually been brought into Ukraine."
12.12 'Large scale military assistance' needed from EU
Ukraine's ambassador to the EU on Thursday called for "large-scale" military assistance from Brussels.
Kostiantyn Yelisieiev called for EU leaders who are meeting on Saturday to decide on "further resolute significant sanctions and large-scale military and technical assistance to Ukraine in order to stop the aggressor".
12.09 Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine, separatist leader says
Earlier today, Alexander Zakharchenko, prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, said serving Russian soldiers, on leave from their posts, are fighting Ukrainian troops alongside the rebels, Russian state television reported, Reuters reports.
"Among us are fighting serving soldiers, who would rather take their vacation not on a beach but with us, among brothers, who are fighting for their freedom," said Mr Zakharchenko in an interview posted on Vesti.ru, the Internet site of a Russian state television station.
He also said: "There have been around 3,000 to 4,000 of them in our ranks."
12.05 Poroshenko convenes top security meeting
Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko convened a top security meeting after Kiev accused Russian troops of seizing a border town in the east, AFP reports.
"I have cancelled the visit to Turkey and am urgently convening a meeting of the (National Security and Defence Council) due to the sharp deterioration of the situation in the Donetsk region," a post on Mr Poroshenko's official Twitter account said.
12.01 Welcome to today's rolling coverage of the Ukraine crisis
Hello and welcome to the Telegraph's live coverage of the Ukraine crisis. In the last hour, Reuters reports Petro Poroshenko has said Russian forces had invaded Ukraine.
In a statement on the presidential website, he said: "I made the decision to cancel a working visit to the Republic of Turkey in connection with the rapidly deteriorating situation in Donetsk region, in particular in Amvrosiyivka and Starobesheve, as an invasion of Russian forces has taken place."
It comes after pro-Russian separatists leader, Alexander Zakharchenko, said three to four thousand serving Russian soldiers - on leave - were fighting against the Ukrainian army.
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