officials said the latest of what have been daily clashes claimed the lives of four civilians and one Ukrainian soldier across the war zone.
Poroshenko has thus far been unable to secure offensive weapons from his allies because of Western fears about Putin’s potential response.
But Poroshenko has pushed through legislation lifting Ukraine’s neutral status and allowing the nation of 45 million to permanently host Nato troops.
Poroshenko on Wednesday also signed a new national security strategy focused on “restoring territorial integrity within the frameworks of the internationally-recognised borders of Ukraine”.
The wording implies that Ukraine still hopes to win back Crimea — seized by Moscow just weeks after its ally’s downfall in Kiev — despite Putin’s decision to deploy new forces and weapons on the disputed peninsula.
The new security document also targets “Ukraine’s integration with the European Union and creating the conditions necessary to join Nato”.
Kiev intends to apply for EU membership by 2020 but has not targeted a date by which it hoped to fall under Nato’s security umbrella.
In recent months of the eastern uprising, guerrillas have not only made significant gains on the ground but also suffered from a string of mysterious assassinations that Kiev thinks point to growing discord in the rebel ranks.
The latest shooting last weekend saw feared Prizrak (Ghost) brigade commander Alexei Mozgovoi and six of his companions slain near the same spot where he had survived another attempt on his life in March.
Mozgovoi’s burial on Wednesday in a Lugansk village called Alchevsk that he ran with an iron fist saw many mourners blame his death on rivals in the loosely-organised insurgency’s camp.
“I doubt that he was killed by Ukrainian saboteurs,” said medic Yelena Gurevich as armoured personnel carriers and a Soviet flag-draped truck loaded with a heavy machine gun led a procession of Mozgovoi supporters to the cemetery.
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