MOSCOW NATOs top commander accused Russia of sending troops and weapons into Ukraine on Wednesday, as Ukrainian officials announced that they were bracing for a return to hostilities in the eastern part of the country that already have claimed more than 4,000 lives.

The accusation was the Western military alliances most direct charge against Russia since the start of a tenuous and repeatedly violated cease-fire Sept.5, and it seemed to signal a decisive abandoning of hopes that the agreement would continue to hold.

U.S. Air Force Gen. Philip M. Breedlove told reporters in Bulgaria that NATO had observed Russian tanks, Russian artillery, Russian air defense systems and Russian combat troops enter Ukraine across a completely wide-open border with Russia in the previous two days.

A spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry, Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, swiftly dismissed NATOs accusations, saying no facts existed to back them up.

The assertion that Russia is pressing into Ukraine came as Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced plans to project Russias military reach even farther, by sending long-range bombers on regular patrol missions along Russias borders and over areas from the Arctic Ocean to the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico.

We have to maintain a military presence in the western part of the Atlantic and the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean, in the waters of the Caribbean and in the Gulf of Mexico, Shoigu said Wednesday.

Breedloves accusation is only the latest alarm NATO and its allies have sounded about Russian military activity along and across the Ukrainian border.

The accusation reinforces claims by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe that convoys of weapons and military systems have been moving west through eastern Ukraine in the past few days.

Ukrainian officials, who accused Russia of sending troops and tanks over the border last Friday, are readying the military for attacks in the disputed east.

On Wednesday, Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak told Ukrainian government officials that the countrys forces are deploying to eastern Ukraine and preparing for winter combat because of an increase in activity that has been noted among separatist militias.

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NATO says Russian military definitely moving into Ukraine