Russia Masses Troops at Ukrainian Border, Classifies Military Deaths

As the Russian military masses equipment on the Ukrainian border, Russian President Vladimir Putin has classified all the deaths of Russian soldiers killed in special operations.

Reuters reports that large amounts of tanks, artillery, other weapons and troops have been seen in the southern Russian town of Matveev Kurgan. The town is 30 miles from the Ukrainian border.

The military vehicles have had identifiers like license plates removed, while the soldiers' uniforms also appear to have had their emblems and patches removed.

Reuters says that at least four trains loaded with military personnel and gear have arrived at a rail station rail station in the province of Rostov, which borders Ukraine. The trains carried at least 26 tanks and 30 truck mounted rocket launchers.

A number of armored personnel carriers and self-propelled artillery units were also seen.

When Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula in 2014, well-armed men wearing uniforms without insignias were the first forces on the ground. They were quickly dubbed, "little green men," invoking a common phrase used to refer to aliens, because of their olive outfits and mysterious origins.

Russia denies that it has been directly involved in the Ukrainian Civil War which began after the 2014 revolution. The United States and various European countries have accused Russia of direct involvement in the form of artillery strikes and sending troops to fight alongside separatists demanding autonomy from the central government in Kiev.

Russia has maintained it is not directly supporting the rebels despite the fact that two Russian soldiers were recently captured by Ukrainian forces and admitted they were on active duty.

In order to keep up this ruse, a separate Reuters report notes that the Russian government has made all deaths of Russian soldiers on special operations a state secret.