Ukraine Prez Dissolves Parliament

Military convoys seen pouring in 'from the direction of Russia'
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Aug 25, 2014 5:16 PM CDT
Ukraine Prez Dissolves Parliament
Pro-Russian rebels escort captured Ukrainian army prisoners in a central square in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2014.   (Antoine E.R. Delaunay)

Ukraine's president today dissolved parliament and called for early elections in October as his country continues to battle a pro-Russian insurgency in its eastern regions. President Petro Poroshenko announced in a statement posted on his website that he has dissolved parliament and called for snap elections on October 26. He said the move was in line with the Ukrainian constitution, noting that the ruling coalition collapsed several weeks ago. Many members of parliament "are allies of the militants-separatists," Poroshenko said, referring to the pro-Russian rebels who have battled government troops in the country's east since April.

Meanwhile, convoys of military weaponry passed with clockwork-like regularity through a rebel-held town in eastern Ukraine near the porous border with Russia, on several evenings this month, reports the AP. The convoys were seen three times last week by AP reporters in Krasnodon, and one of them carried about 30 units of weaponry and supplies. All were coming from the direction of Russia and heading west to where pro-Moscow separatists were fighting Ukrainian troops. NATO and Ukraine have accused Moscow of covertly shuttling heavy artillery and other weapons to the separatists—allegations that Russia routinely denies. In other news, pro-Russia rebels yesterday paraded Ukrainian prisoners of war through the city of Donetsk in violation of the Geneva Convention, which forbids parading POWs in public, the New York Times reports. (More Ukraine stories.)

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