Ukraine conflict: Poroshenko boosts military spending
Ukraine conflict: Poroshenko boosts military spending
Sunday's celebrations mark the 23rd anniversary of Ukraine's independence after the Soviet Union collapsed
Ukraine's president has announced that almost $3bn will be spent on re-equipping the army after an "exhausting" campaign against pro-Russian rebels.
Petro Poroshenko said that a "constant military threat will hang over Ukraine" for the foreseeable future.
He was speaking ahead of a large military parade in the capital Kiev.
Meanwhile, fighting continues in eastern Ukraine, where more than 2,000 people have died in recent months.
Mr Poroshenko said the investment would be spread out over two years, from 2015-2017.
"The events of the last months have for us turned into a real war, albeit an undeclared one," he said in a televised speech on Ukrainian independence day.
"Over the last six months, a new Ukrainian army has been born in heavy and exhausting fighting," he said.
The military parade featured hundreds of marching servicemen and military hardware. Critics said it was inappropriate when Ukraine was at war.
Continued fighting
Pro-Russian rebels in the eastern city of Donetsk - the scene of the heaviest fighting - say they will hold their own parade and display captured soldiers.
More than 330,000 people have fled their homes because of fighting in eastern Ukraine.
The bodies of six civilians, including a child, were seen by an AFP correspondent in Donetsk on Saturday.
The military parades were rehearsed on Saturday
Pro-Russian rebels in the east say that they will stage alternative independence day celebrations featuring captured Ukrainian servicemen
On Saturday Kiev marked the Day of the National Flag. Sunday's independence events include a parade involving military hardware and several hundred service personnel.
A naval parade is also being held in the port of Odessa.
These are the first military parades since 2009, when the previous pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych, abolished them.
Prayers were said and wreaths laid for those who fought on the Ukrainian government side, including those killed during protests against Mr Yanukovych in Kiev last winter.
Meanwhile, security officials quoted by Ukrainian media said that five people accused of planning attacks on bases for pro-government volunteers in the Kiev area, timed to coincide with the celebrations, had been arrested.
Sunday's celebrations come a a day after the German chancellor, Angela Merkel visited Kiev and met President Petro Poroshenko
The chancellor and the president met as lorries from an unauthorised Russian aid convoy into the east crossed back over the border to return to Russia
Russia has been accused by Nato of amassing troops and tanks near its border with Ukraine
The events come a day after German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged both sides in the conflict to strive for a new ceasefire.
She cautioned that Russia - already subjected to heavy EU and US sanctions over its alleged interference in Ukraine - could face further punitive measures.
Her visit to Kiev took place as lorries from an unauthorised Russian aid convoy which had crossed into eastern Ukraine returned to Russia.
Western officials fear the trucks may have held military equipment to help the rebels, but Russia said they had delivered generators, food and drink.
The violence in the east erupted when pro-Russian separatists in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions declared independence from Kiev
The violence in the east erupted when pro-Russian separatists in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions declared independence from Kiev, after Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in March.
Key negotiations between President Poroshenko, Russian President Vladimir Putin and EU officials are due to take place in Minsk on Tuesday. bbc
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