Ukrainian president warns of growing terror threat

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has warned of a significant increase in terrorist threats reaching beyond the conflict zone in the disputed eastern Donetsk and Lugansk regions, where pro-Russian separatists have been active for more than a year, Efe news agency reported on Friday.

"The level of subversive activities and terrorist threats in the areas outside the Anti-Terrorist Operation zone has significantly increased," Poroshenko said during a meeting with the Ukrainian interior ministry.

Poroshenko explained that criminals were capitalising on security and police resources being allocated to the fight against the pro-Russian separatists, "and therefore there has been a rapid increase in serious crimes of certain kinds".

Kiev authorities claim that the conflict in the east was compounded by Russian volunteers and troops regularly sent by Moscow to fight alongside the separatists, which the Kremlin flatly denies.

Poroshenko also attributed the increase in criminal activity to armed gangs in Donetsk and Lugansk that support a black market for weapons and explosives.

Despite the peace agreement signed in Minsk last February, pro-Russian separatists and the Ukrainian military often exchange charges of violating the presiding ceasefire in the conflict zone.

According to the latest UN figures, roughly 6,500 people, including combatants and civilians, have been killed in eastern Ukraine in just over a year of conflict.