Ukraine 'Regrouping' Forces To Defend East

Ukraine is "regrouping" its forces in the east of the country, President Petro Poroshenko has said, accusing "terrorists" of provoking his forces.

The move does not amount to a new offensive against pro-Russian separatists, he insisted, but is simply a move to defend the country's territory.

Mr Poroshenko said the ceasefire in Ukraine had been difficult to maintain because of the actions of the separatists.

On Wednesday morning, he signed a law which allowed for fresh economic sanctions to be imposed on Russian individuals and companies who have been backing rebels in eastern Ukraine battlegrounds. 

There are also parliamentary plans for a "special status" - giving greater autonomy - to be granted to Donetsk and Luhansk within the next week.

Despite the concerns raised during a televised government meeting in Kiev, a spokesperson for the Kremlin insisted that Russia and Ukraine are happy with how the ceasefire is holding "on the whole".

President Poroshenko unveiled his latest measures in a government meeting

It came as the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that Ukraine could be facing a health emergency because its medicine supplies are dwindling.

Dorit Nitzan, the UN health agency's representative in Kiev, warned: "Ukraine has no vaccines... they don't have any vaccines in their storage. Even before the crisis began they had low [immunisation] coverage."

The professor's main concern is that there could be an outbreak of polio, a disease which mainly affects young children, as it "usually comes in countries of turmoil".

The WHO has warned that Ukraine has a shortage of 'every kind of vaccine'

The European Union is set to meet on Wednesday to discuss when its new sanctions against Russia, which were formally agreed on Monday, should be implemented.

EU President Herman van Rompuy confirmed there would be "an assessment of the implementation of the ceasefire agreement and the peace plan".

The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is also planning to deploy drones in the region, so it can monitor whether the ceasefire is holding.

There were concerns earlier this week as fighting continued in east Ukraine

According to Mr Poroshenko, Russia has moved 70% of its forces "back across the border" from where they were based in eastern Ukraine.

"This further strengthens our hope that the peace initiatives have good prospects," he said.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International has claimed it has evidence that both sides of the conflict have committed war crimes.

At a press conference in Moscow, the group's Secretary General, Salil Shetty, warned that some separatists, along with Ukraine's Aidar battalion, were responsible for human rights abuses seen during the crisis.

"Amnesty International has called the conflict in Ukraine an international conflict, and Russia a party to that conflict," he added.

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