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 Russia did not immediately respond to the accusation which, if
confirmed, would go further to kill off a European-brokered truce
that was met by relentless rebel advances after it came into force
on Sunday. Moscow has always denied accusations in the past that its
forces are fighting in Ukraine.
Nevertheless, there were signs that the rebels may be prepared to
halt their advance, having achieved their main military objective
this week by seizing the strategic town of Debaltseve in defiance of
the ceasefire.
Reuters journalists in the battle zone, including Debaltseve itself
now firmly in rebel hands, said it was quieter than it had been for
days. Kiev and the rebels both announced a new agreement, signed by
Ukrainian generals and separatist leaders, to begin withdrawing
heavy weapons from the front line, one of the main requirements of
the truce deal.
Kiev's biggest worry is that rebels will continue their advance to
threaten Mariupol, a highly strategic port of 500,000 people that is
the biggest city still under government control in the two
rebellious eastern provinces. Novoazovsk, where Kiev said Russia was
reinforcing, lies 40 km (25 miles) to the east along the coast near
the Russian border.
"In recent days, despite the Minsk (ceasefire) agreement, military
equipment and ammunition have been sighted crossing from Russia into
Ukraine," military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said. He said more than
20 Russian tanks, 10 missile systems and busloads of troops had
crossed the frontier.
 The United States, which is considering tightening sanctions against
Russia and arming Kiev, also says it has sighted Russian
reinforcements. The State Department said Russian support for the
rebels was undermining international diplomacy and would bring
"costs" on Moscow.
Western nations have held out hope they can revive a peace deal
brokered by France and Germany in the Belarussian capital Minsk on
Feb. 12, even though the rebels ignored it to seize Debaltseve, a
town on a strategic railway hub, inflicting one of the worst defeats
of the 10-month-old war on Kiev.
"We are more convinced than ever that they must be applied - all the
agreements, nothing but the agreements," French President Francois
Hollande said in Paris alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel on
Friday.
"THESE ARE OURS NOW"
In Debaltseve, where Kiev was forced to withdraw thousands of
besieged troops this week, the black, blue and red flag of the
rebels' self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic flew over the town
hall. Artillery could be heard in the distance.
Walls were pock-marked by bullets or had huge holes blown in them.
Burnt-out hulks of tanks and military trucks lay abandoned on the
road. Heavily armed rebels and tanks patrolled the streets on the
outskirts, where bridges had been blown up and the railway appeared
to have suffered major damage.
A separatist fighter picked out ammunition left by fleeing
government troops from the rubble.
"These are ours now, and we'll use them against them. We have to
expand," said the rebel who refused to give his name, straightening
up while a dozen others continued their search for arms and
ammunition.
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The town held around 27,000 people before the fighting. Most fled
during the battle, but thousands remained trapped inside, sheltering
in cellars during days of relentless bombardment. Several hundred
lined up for food in the centre of town. Many were weeping as they
stood in the queue.
"We're waiting. They should bring dry meals in blue packaging since
the pasta is already finishing," said Yulia, 28, a teacher, holding
her 10-year-old niece by the hand.
DARK MOOD AT UPRISING ANNIVERSARY
In the capital Kiev, the military setbacks darkened the mood as
crowds gathered for the first anniversary of an uprising that
toppled the Moscow-leaning president Viktor Yanukovich and
culminated in war.
Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko accused a top aide to Russia's
Vladimir Putin of being behind the sniper killings of 100 Ukrainian
protesters on the streets of Kiev during the uprising a year ago.
"Just a few days ago, the head of state security told me that
special forces operatives gave evidence that the Russian
presidential aide Vladislav Surkov led the organisation of groups of
foreign snipers on the Maidan," Poroshenko told some of the
relatives of those killed, according to his website.
Russia's Foreign Ministry called the accusation "madness".
Crowds headed to observe the anniversary at Independence Square in
the heart of the capital, known locally as "the Maidan" and revered
by Ukrainians as platform of a revolution that turned the country
away from Russia and towards Europe.
"We have shown the world, we have shown everyone that we can stand
against the regime without weapons, that we are free people and we
will fight till the end, till victory," said Mykola Tokar who
travelled from the Lviv region in the west to attend the ceremonies
in Kiev.
Some people wore combat fatigues showing allegiance to
pro-government militias that have fought alongside Kiev's troops
against pro-Russian separatists. The mood was sombre.
More than 5,600 people have been killed in fighting since mid-April
last year, soon after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine following
Yanukovich's overthrow.
(Additional reporting by Natalya Zinets; Writing by Timothy Heritage
and Richard Balmforth; Editing by Peter Graff)
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