Ukraine crisis: President calls snap vote amid fighting

Ukraine's president has dissolved parliament and called snap elections, as government forces continue to fight pro-Russian rebel forces in the east, BBC reported.

Petro Poroshenko said many current MPs were backers of ousted President Viktor Yanukovych and that the majority of Ukrainians wanted a new parliament.

Elections would be held on 26 October, he said in a TV address.

Separately, Ukraine's military says it clashed with rebel armoured vehicles that entered the country from Russia.

More than 2,000 people have died in months of fighting between Ukrainian forces and separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

The two regions declared independence from Kiev, following Russia's annexation of the southern Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in March.

In the address late on Monday, Mr Poroshenko said he acted fully in accordance with the Ukrainian constitution, which states that new elections must be held if a ruling coalition in parliament is not formed within 30 days.

The previous coalition collapsed on 24 July.

The president stressed that the "current composition of the parliament has been the mainstay of (President) Yanukovych", who was forced to flee Ukraine amid mass street protests in February.

"Elections is the best way of cleaning things up," he said.

However, new elections do hold some risks for Mr Poroshenko, the BBC's David Stern in Kiev reports. If the president is unable to end the fighting in eastern Ukraine before the October vote, he risks a voter backlash.

Anger is also rising among Ukrainians at the government's inability to introduce reforms and tackle corruption, our correspondent adds.

Earlier on Monday, Ukraine's military said a column of 10 tanks and two armoured personnel carriers had crossed from Russia and been heading towards the south-eastern port of Mariupol.

It said Ukrainian troops destroyed two tanks, blocking the area.

Bakudaily.Az