Russia warns of possible action in Ukraine

A top Russian official has warned that Moscow could intervene to help Russian-speaking residents in eastern Ukraine if Ukraine launches an all-out assault on separatists there, reported British Broadcasting Corporation.

Russian-backed separatist rebels and Ukrainian troops have been clashing in the east of the country.

Russia has also been building up troops on the border with Ukraine, said the BBC report.

Russia will be forced to defend residents in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region if there is a need to do so, reported Xinhua, quoting Kremlin Deputy Chief of Staff Dmitry Kozak as saying on Thursday.

Such a decision will depend on the scale of violence in the region, Kozak said, adding that the "armed formations" in Donbas are experienced and currently able to defend themselves without external assistance.

He reiterated that Russia does not want to violate Ukraine's sovereignty or seize its territories.

"It is in our interest to have a friendly, calm and stable neighboring state," he said.

Since the beginning of this year, a new round of confrontation in eastern Ukraine's Lugansk and Donetsk regions, together known as Donbas, has claimed the lives of 20 Ukrainian servicemen and injured 57 others, according to data released by Kiev.