Putin orders full combat alert for central Russian troops

Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu announced Saturday that the Central Military District of Russia was urgently placed on “combat alert,” the day after Russia’s beefed up its military presence on the Ukraine border. The announcement followed the unilateral seven-day ceasefire declared by Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko, which the separatists in the East refused to accept.
Washington has imposed new sanctions against seven Ukraine separatists and Saturday threatened “scalpel” sanctions on Russia’s financial, defense and high tech industries.