Monitor suggests arms transferred from Russia to rebel-held east Ukraine

An independent watchdog on Thursday told AFP it had seen vehicles carrying weaponry enter rebel-held areas of eastern Ukraine from Russia over the last week, appearing to contradict Moscow's claim it is not arming separatists.

The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe said it had observed convoys of cargo trucks moving across the border under the cover of night.

A drone captured footage of "vehicles, including a truck carrying an armoured personnel carrier, entering and exiting Ukraine" using an unpaved route with no border crossing facilities, it said.

The OSCE did not make any explicit claims as to whether weapons had been deposited in Ukraine.

The organisation has previously complained of its drones being jammed.

On two other occasions it had seen weapons convoys moving near, but not crossing, the border.

In response to the new reports, the United States urged the Kremlin to "stop providing deadly weapons under cover of night to its proxies in eastern Ukraine."

"Only Russia can bring an end to bloodshed in Ukraine," the US embassy in Ukraine said last week, after the OSCE announced it observed the first of the convoys.

More than 10,000 people have been killed since the conflict with Moscow-backed rebels broke out in April 2014 following Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.

Ukraine and its Western allies accuse Russia of funnelling troops and arms across the border.

Moscow has denied the allegations despite overwhelming evidence that it has been involved in the fighting.

The OSCE team's 600 members are the only independent monitoring mission in the war-torn area who provide daily reports on the fighting.

Norway's Russian spy suspect held on appeal after court orders release
Oslo (AFP) Oct 18, 2018 - A Norwegian court on Thursday ordered the release of a Russian suspected of espionage, but he was forced to remain behind bars after an immediate appeal by Oslo's intelligence agency.

Mikhail Bochkarev was arrested on September 21 at Oslo airport after attending a seminar in Norway's parliament where authorities accuse him of collecting data on the building and its network.

"The investigation has not been able to back up its suspicions," the judge said in the ruling. "It would be natural for them to have found significant elements, if they existed, to substantiate these accusations."

The PST intelligence agency immediately filed an appeal to force Bochkarev to stay in jail while an appeals court examines the case further.

If the release order is upheld there would be no obstacle to him leaving Norway, his lawyer Hege Aakre, told AFP.

The case has riled Russia's government, which has described the charges as "false" and "absurd". Russia's government had summoned the Norwegian ambassador to Moscow in protest.

Norwegian officials regularly accuse Russia of attempted hacking and espionage.

In April, a Norwegian man, Frode Berg, was arrested in Russia also on suspicion of spying.

Berg admitted to having helped the Norwegian intelligence services by acting as a courier several times. Earlier this month, his detention was extended by two months pending trial.

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