Ukraine President: Thousands of foreign troops in Ukraine

(Vatican Radio) Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says thousands of foreign troops and hundreds  of foreign tanks have entered his nation. His latest allegations come after Kiev and European Union ministers said a Russian invasion was underway in eastern Ukraine.  

Listen to the report by Stefan Bos:

Poroshenko pleaded for help from the European Union as his embattled nation now faces its biggest military threat since declaring independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. 

"We have a worsening the situation from August 27 and thousands of foreign troops and hundreds of foreign tanks are now on Ukraine’s territory,” said Poroshenko ahead of a summit meeting of EU leaders in Brussels.

“This poses a very high risk not only for the peace and stability for Ukraine but for the peace and stability in the whole of Europe,” he added.

And the Ukrainian military claimed Russian tanks already "destroyed virtually every house" in the town of Novosvitlivka near the key city of Luhansk.  

FIGHTER JETS DOWNED 

Additionally, Ukrainian forces said one of their fighter jets was shot down by a Russian missile in combat against 
Russia-backed rebels. On Friday Russian media quoted rebels as saying that four Ukrainian military planes were downed. 

Lithuania's President Dalia Grybauskaite said it shows Russia was in her words "practically in a war against Europe".
    
The European Commission, the EU's executive, shared those concerns. Commission President José Manuel  Barroso made clear that Europe faces its biggest crisis since the end of the Cold War. 

"We are in a very serious, I would say, dramatic situation... where we can reach the point of no return," Barroso said after talks in Brussels with Ukrainian President Poroshenko.

"If the escalation of the conflict continues, this point can come," he told reporters, describing reports of Russian troops in Ukraine as a representing "a new transgression".

ESCALATION FEARS

"We have to avoid an escalation that would certainly be detrimental first of all to Ukraine, but certainly to Russia and Europe as a whole," Barosso warned.   

He also said the EU may disburse more than one billion euro ($1.3 billion), in loans to Ukraine in the coming months and could consider further aid. In March, the EU already offered as much as 11 billion euro ($14.5 billion) in loans and grants to help Ukraine overcome an economic crisis.

The pledged financial aid has done little to end the conflict, with residents in the rebel-stronghold of Donetsk facing another day of shelling as government troops try to recapture territory. 

Despite satellite images, video footage and journalists reporting such movements, Russia denies sending troops into eastern Ukraine to support the pro-Russian separatists.