Russia is Building Military Base on Border with Ukraine

The Russian military is building a base on the border with Ukraine as the governments of both countries and European leaders will meet in October to discuss the nearly two year old war in east Ukraine.

Reuters reports the base is big enough to accommodate 3,500 of soldiers and will be home to a swimming pool, barber shop, skating rink, and tennis and badminton courts in addition to tanks and enormous stores of ammunition. Ukraine is roughly 15 miles away from the site of the base.

The base is only in the initial stage of construction, with workers installing fencing.

The site of the base is nearly the same as where a Reuters reporter last year saw a high level of military activity like tanks, trucks, and helicopter gunships.

The reporter seems to have been threatened while working, as man from the Federal Agency for Special Construction, which is responsible for defense construction, stopped his car, photographed his identification, and told the reporter that he would report him to the country's intelligence agency.

News of the base comes as Russia says that it will join the leaders of France and Germany along with the president of Ukraine in order to discuss the ongoing conflict, according to a different Reuters report.

The meeting is scheduled for Oct. 2 and take place in Paris, with a preliminary meeting set for Sept. 12 in Berlin.

The French and German leaders previously got both sides to sign ceasefires, but they were promptly violated by soldiers on both sides.

Approximately 8,000 people have been killed since fighting Erupted in April 2014 after the overthrow of Ukraine's former president Viktor Yanukovich.