KIEV, July 23 (RAPSI) - Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko has signed a bill on partial mobilization, his official website announced.

According to the source, a partial mobilization is required due to the increasing terrorist activity in Ukraine that is resulting in the deaths of civilians, military personnel, and other military and law enforcement staff in the eastern regions of the country, as well as due to armed forces of significant offensive potential gathering in the territory of the Russian Federation in proximity to the Ukrainian border, and due to the threat of attack, the threat to the sovereignty of Ukraine and the need to ensure the defense of the state.

Russia has repeatedly claimed that it is not involved in the events in southeastern Ukraine. Official statements claim that there are no intelligence officers or armed forces there. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has insisted that there is no reason to blame Russia for the escalating crisis in southeastern Ukraine while the Russian Defense Ministry has declared more than once that it has not supplied any military equipment, ammunition or other aid to the rebels.