The US accused Russia on Thursday of firing artillery across the border into eastern Ukraine and said Moscow was planning to send new missile launchers and heavy weapons to separatist groups.
In what would represent a dramatic escalation in Russia’s direct involvement in the conflict in eastern Ukraine, the state department said it had “new evidence” that Russia was attacking Ukrainian military positions from within Russia.
Marie Harf, a state department spokeswoman, said that Russia was also preparing to “deliver heavier and more powerful multiple rocket launchers to the separatist forces in Ukraine”. She declined to discuss the nature of the evidence, saying only that it was partly based on “human intelligence”.