(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned on Friday the reported incursion by Ukrainian troops into Russian southern border areas.
He asked the Foreign Ministry to send a strongly-worded protest note to Kiev over the alleged Ukrainian provocations, Interfax news agency reported, citing Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Two infantry fighting vehicles of the Ukrainian Armed Forces have reportedly crossed the Russian border and went 150 km deep into the Rostov region, southwest Russia.
The Russian troops refrained from using violence against the Ukrainian intruders who returned later to the Ukrainian territories.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called, during a phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart Andriy Deshchytsya, on Kiev to halt these provocative acts which could hamper the Russian-Ukrainian dialogue.
In a related development, the Ukrainian authorities said they inflicted high casualties on the pro-Russian separatists in the southeastern port city of Mariupol before controlling it.
The Russian TV confirmed the report, saying that the separatists were forced to pull out from the city due to heavy bombardment by the Ukrainian forces.
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