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RUSSIA said today that more than 400 Ukrainian soldiers had crossed onto its territory to avoid fighting separatist activists in the east.
A security official said 438 troops had asked the Russian authorities to open a “humanitarian corridor” overnight because they were no longer able to defend their positions.
The Ukrainian border service said the soldiers had run out of ammunition and the Ukrainian military confirmed its troops had crossed into Russia.
Russia’s Federal Security Service said 180 soldiers had since been returned to Ukraine while the rest were still deciding what to do.
“The Russian border guards admitted 438 soldiers of the Ukrainian army” who surrendered their weapons, FSB official Vasily Malayev said.
A Kiev spokesman admitted the soldiers “were forced towards a Russian border post following a failed attempt to break through” rebel lines.
Ukrainian forces have stepped up operations near the border in an attempt to encircle rebels around Donetsk and Lugansk.
