Arms transferred from Russia to rebel-held east Ukraine: Watchdog

AFP  |  Kiev 

An independent watchdog on Thursday told AFP it had seen weapons being transported from to rebel-held areas of eastern over the last week, contradicting Moscow's claim it is not arming separatists.

The said it had observed convoys of cargo trucks moving across the border under the cover of night.

A drone captured footage of "vehicles, including a truck carrying an armoured personnel carrier, entering and exiting Ukraine" using an unpaved route with no border crossing facilities, it said.

The OSCE has previously complained of its drones being jammed.

On two other occasions it had seen weapons convoys moving near, but not crossing, the border.

In response to the new reports, the urged the Kremlin to "stop providing deadly weapons under cover of night to its proxies in eastern "

"Only can bring an end to bloodshed in Ukraine," the US embassy in said last week, after the OSCE announced it observed the first of the convoys.

More than 10,000 people have been killed since the conflict with Moscow-backed rebels broke out in April 2014 following Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.

Ukraine and its Western allies accuse of funnelling troops and arms across the border.

has denied the allegations despite overwhelming evidence that it has been involved in the fighting.

The OSCE team's 600 members are the only independent monitoring mission in the war-torn area who provide daily reports on the fighting.

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First Published: Thu, October 18 2018. 20:45 IST