Ukraine rebels order troop mobilisation amid invasion fears

A separatist leader in eastern Ukraine ordered a full military mobilisation amid growing invasion fears.

Denis Pushilin, the head of the pro-Russian separatist government in the Donetsk region, released a statement Saturday announcing a full troop mobilisation and urging reservists to show up at military enlistment offices.

The move comes amid a spike in violence along the line of contact between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed rebels in the region in recent days that fueled Western fears that Moscow could use it as a pretext for an invasion.

On Friday, separatist authorities in Donetsk and Luhansk announced a mass evacuation of women, children and the elderly to neighbouring Russia. Shortly after the evacuation effort started, several explosions hit the rebel-controlled areas. The separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine erupted in 2014 and has killed over 14,000 people.