Russian troops dying in `large numbers` in eastern Ukraine: NATO

Riga: Pro-Russian separatist troops are dying in combat in "large numbers" in eastern Ukraine, where they have been fighting against government forces for a year, a NATO official said on Thursday.

"Russian soldiers are fighting and dying in large numbers in eastern Ukraine," NATO deputy secretary-general Alexander Vershbow told a conference in the Latvian capital Riga. Moscow has flatly denied the presence of any of its troops in eastern Ukraine.