Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko has cancelled a working visit to Turkey because of “Russian troop deployments” in the country’s east.  Two columns of Russian tanks and armored vehicles fired Grad missiles at a border post in southeastern Ukraine, and then rolled into the country, taking a coastal town.

“The world should formulate its judgment about the dramatic developments in Ukraine,” Poroshenko told lawmakers in Kiev.

A top NATO official said at least one thousand Russian troops crossed into Ukraine with sophisticated equipment and have had “contact” with Ukrainian soldiers, causing casualties.  And there are another 20,000 Russian troops poised right on the other side of the border.

NATO official say the immediate goal of the Russian was not necessarily to capture more territory, but to change the course of the fighting in eastern Ukraine.  Ukrainian government troops have gained the upper hand and have recaptured territory from Russian-backed rebels. 

“We have also detected large quantities of advanced weapons, including air defense systems, artillery, tanks, and armored personnel carriers being transferred to separatist forces in Eastern Ukraine,” said Brigadier General Nico Tak at NATO headquarters in Brussels.  “The presence of these weapons along with substantial numbers of Russian combat troops inside Ukraine make the situation increasingly grave.”

Ukraine’s security and defense council confirmed reports that forces described as “Russian troops” captured the coastal town of Novoazovsk.  A rebel spokesman confirmed that Novoazovsk was under their control and they would soon “liberate” the port city of Mariupol.