Things just escalated notably - (Via Bloomberg):
- *UKRAINE FORCES ATTACK ARMED CONVOY FROM RUSSIA: LYSENKO
- *UKRAINE TROOPS 'DESTROY' PART OF ARMED CONVOY: LYSENKO
- *UKRAINE'S POROSHENKO: CONFIRMED APC INCURSION TO CAMERON
Reuters reports,
Ukrainian artillery destroyed a "significant" part of a Russian armoured column that crossed into Ukraine during the night, President Petro Poroshenko told British Prime Minister David Cameron on Friday, according to the presidential website.
Separately, a Ukrainian military spokesman said Ukrainian forces had tracked the Russian armoured column as soon as it crossed onto Ukrainian soil."Appropriate actions were undertaken and a part of it no longer exists," military spokesman Andriy Lysenko told journalists.
We await Putin's response...
- *RUSSIA CONCERNED AT ATTEMPTS TO DISRUPT AID CONVOY
- *RUSSIA SAYS IT'S GETTING INFO OF DIRECT THREATS TO CONVOY
- *RUSSIA SAYS UKRAINE INTENSIFIES MILITARY OPS TO DISRUPT CONVOY
EU & US Stocks and bond yields (and Ruble) are tumbling, gold rising.
Of course we noted this last night...
While the white trucks came to a halt well short of Ukraine's border, a different Russian convoy did cross into Ukrainian territory late on Thursday evening.
The Guardian saw a column of 23 armoured personnel carriers, supported by fuel trucks and other logistics vehicles with official Russian military plates, travelling towards the border near the Russian town of Donetsk.
[6]
After pausing by the side of the road until nightfall, the convoy crossed into Ukrainian territory, using a rough dirt track and clearly crossing through a gap in a barbed wire fence that demarcates the border. Armed men were visible in the gloom by the border fence as the column moved into Ukraine.
Kiev has lost control of its side of the border in this area.
The trucks are unlikely to represent a full-scale official Russian invasion, and it was unclear how far they planned to travel inside Ukrainian territory and how long they would stay. But it was incontrovertible evidence of what Ukraine has long claimed – that Russian troops are active inside its borders.
...
The armoured column seen by the Guardian appeared to be further evidence of Russia's incursions, which the Kremlin has repeatedly denied.
[8]
But do now...
[9]
A reminder of the comparative anxiety in bonds and stocks...
[10]
From Reuters:
- UKRAINIAN MILITARY SPOKESMAN SAYS UKRAINE FORCES ENGAGED RUSSIAN ARMOURED COLUMN ON UKRAINIAN SOIL AND "PART OF IT NO LONGER EXISTS"
- UKRAINIAN MILITARY SPOKESMAN SAYS UKRAINIAN FORCES HAD TRACKED RUSSIAN ARMOURED COLUMN AFTER IT CROSSED BORDER INTO UKRAINE
- RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SAYS UKRAINIAN FORCES ENGAGING IN INTENSE FIGHTING IN EASTERN UKRAINE TO STOP HUMANITARIAN AID TO THE REGION
The result...
[11]
The Ruble snapped lower but is recovering..
[12]
But stocks knew better?
Chart: bloomberg
