TROOPS DEPLOYED TO RUSSIAN BORDER AMID RISING FEARS OF INVASION

MOSCOW Ukraine has begun calling up reservists and deploying troops to the border to counter what it says is the growing threat of a Russian invasion.

President Petro Poroshenko, who last week declared martial law in 10 regions, announced the moves on Monday in response to a “sharp increase in Russian forces along our borders and in occupied Crimea.” The day before, Poroshenko claimed Russia was trying to capture the major port city of Mariupol and create a land corridor to Crimea. Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Monday called this statement “absurd” and accused Ukraine’s leader of “provoking tensions” before the presidential election in March.

Russian forces seized three Ukrainian naval ships attempting to enter the Azov Sea through the Kerch Strait on Nov. 25. The Ukrainian military said Monday it had begun calling up its first line of active reserves.

SERGEI SUPINSKY / AFP / GETTY IMAGES Ukrainian servicemen take part in tactical exercises near Goncharivske village, not far from the border with Russia, on Monday. Tensions between the nations remained high after Russia’s seizure of three Ukrainian ships last week.