UKRAINE-RUSSIA-CRISIS-POLITICS-BORDER

Ukrainian border guards stand guard at their unit near the border with Russia, not far from the village of Alexeyevskoye, some 100 km from the eastern city of Donetsk, on April 18, 2014. Ukraine's embarrassed armed forces on Friday said it had recovered two armoured personnel carriers that were seized earlier in the week by pro-Russian rebels when a military offensive turned to humiliation. "As part of a special operation, commandos recovered two of the captured APCs from the extremists," Kiev's defence ministry said in a statement. The troop carriers were part of a convoy of six vehicles that were taken by separatists Wednesday as an "anti-terrorist" operation to confront the rebels in the restive east but which backfired spectacularly. AFP PHOTO/ ANATOLII STEPANOV (Photo credit should read ANATOLII STEPANOV/AFP via Getty Images)