Ten Russian paratroopers were captured this week in Ukraine, adding to a growing body of evidence... (Associated Press) 
 
 Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who briefed a summit of the 28-nation EU's leaders in Brussels, said a strong response was needed to the "military aggression and terror" facing his country. Image copyright AP Image caption Petro Poroshenko meets David Cameron in Brussels ahead of the summit 
 
 Mr Poroshenko, who is at the summit, said Ukraine was a victim of "military aggression and terror" involving "thousands of foreign troops and hundreds of foreign tanks". Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite says Russia is "practically in a war against Europe" 
 
 She said: "We need to support Ukraine, and send military materials to help Ukraine defend itself. Nato estimates that there are at least 1,000 Russian soldiers in Ukraine, while Kiev claimed this week that Russian tanks and armoured vehicles entered the country as rebels opened a new front along the Azov Sea coast. UK Prime Minister David Cameron said the EU faced "a completely unacceptable situation of having Russian troops on Ukrainian soil. Consequences must follow if that situation continues". Conceding ground in the face of a reinvigorated rebel offensive, Ukraine said Saturday that it was abandoning a city where its forces have been surrounded by rebels for days. Government forces were also pulling back from another it had claimed to have taken control of two weeks earlier. The statements by Col. Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for the national security council, indicate that Ukrainian forces face increasingly strong resistance from Russian-backed separatist rebels just weeks after racking up significant gains and forcing rebels out of much of the territory they had held. Calling on EU countries to supply Kiev with military equipment, she went on: "That means we need to help Ukraine to … defend its territory and its people and to help militarily, especially with the military materials to help Ukraine defend itself because today Ukraine is fighting a war on behalf of all Europe." The governor of the Donetsk region, forced from his headquarters in the city of Donetsk, decamped there to maintain a formal, if largely impotent, government presence. Shelling was reported elsewhere in the city, but there was no immediate word on casualties. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the EU was prepared to toughen sanctions against Russia but also that it wanted a political deal to end the confrontation. The point of no return is full-scale war, which already happened on the territory controlled by separatists," he said. He said that new EU sanctions against Russia would be prepared and would be implemented depending on the success of his peace plan. Lysenko said that regular units of the military had been ordered to retreat from Novosvitlivka and Khryashchuvate, two towns on the main road between the Russian border and Luhansk, the second-largest rebel-held city.
– Today's key phrase on the Russian-Ukraine situation is the "point of no return." The leader of the European Commission warned today that Moscow has brought the world to the brink of that point with its aggression toward its neighbor, reports the BBC. Jose Manuel Barroso spoke as EU leaders gathered in Brussels. With Russia showing no sign of letting up, or even admitting that it's helping pro-Russian separatists despite mounting evidence to the contrary, it's not clear what happens after the point of no return, though European leaders are threatening more sanctions. Also: Ukraine leader Petro Poroshenko used similar language to Barroso, reports the New York Times. "We are too close to a border where there will be no return to the peace plan," he said, asserting that "thousands of foreign troops and hundreds of foreign tanks are now on the territory of Ukraine, with a very high risk not only for the peace and stability of Ukraine but for the peace and stability of the whole of Europe." (Russia says any of its troops there are fighting of their own accord while on leave.) Lithuanian leader Dalia Grybauskaite said this, in English, reports AP: "Russia is practically in the war against Europe." Jet shot down: The Ukraine military said one of its fighter jets was shot down over eastern Ukraine by a Russian missile yesterday, reports the Guardian. The pilot ejected safely. Marching on: Pro-Russian rebels backed by Russian soldiers made more gains in the east, reports Reuters. Ukraine's military said tanks entered the small border town of Novosvitlivka and opened fire on houses.