Russia arming Ukrainian separatists

A new report offers the most concrete evidence yet that Russia is supplying arms to rebels in eastern Ukraine.

Reuters revealed and traced the origins of these weapons in a special report. In one case, a surface-to-air rocket was discovered in eastern Ukraine, along with the Russian Defense Ministry book that accompanies such weapons to track their movement.

The logbook indicates that it was signed out of a Russian military storage at the end of May. The book said the missile was destined for a military base in Rostov, a city close to the Ukrainian border. U.S. officials have claimed that a facility near Rostov is used to train separatist fighters.

On the logbook passage stating the rocket was moving to Rostov, was the fresh seal of the Russian Defense Ministry.

The presence of Russian weapons inside Ukraine became an issue of international concern when separatists accidentally mistook Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 for a Ukrainian military transport and shot it down. The separtists have previously taken down other Ukrainain aircraft.

U.S. officials also say that the flow of weapons increased after the Ukrainian military made a major strategic gain by retaking control of the town of Slaviansk.

Military analysts have said that the majority of the weapons are old kit left over from Soviet times, such as T-64 tanks.

The flow of weapons only underscores the necessity of the Ukrainian military to secure its long border with Russia. A large number of the border crossings on the shared frontier have fallen out of Ukrainian government control and into the hands of separatists.

On May 29, 300 separatists overwhelmed a division of border patrol officers at their headquarters, severely weakening the Ukrainain government's ability to control the frontier. Although the border police fought for five days, they could not hold out against the separatist onslaught.