The WSJ reports,"Russia said it launched military exercises along the Ukrainian border on Thursday after Ukrainian forces killed pro-Russian militants and overran three roadblocks outside the eastern city of Slovyansk, in part of a renewed military operation to regain control".
Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said exercises involving land and air forces along the border had already begun. Russia has had tens of thousands of troops massed along the border since last month and has threatened to intervene in Ukraine's eastern region if it felt ethnic Russians there were under threat.
Referring to the situation in Ukraine, he said that "if this military machine isn't stopped today, it will lead to a greater number of dead and wounded."
There were conflicting reports about how broad the operation was, with Ukrainian police saying there had been incidents in two other cities. Even before Russia announced the military exercise, a senior security official in Kiev said Ukraine had paused its operation to take back Slovyansk because of a "heightened risk" of Russia sending in troops.
