Ukraine's Poroshenko orders extra army units to protect cities from possible assault

KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko said on Tuesday he had ordered his military chiefs to send in new army units to protect cities in the east and southeast from possible attack by Russian-backed separatists, Interfax news agency said.

"Several new (military) units and groups have been formed which will allow immediately for a possible offensive on Mariupol, Berdyansk, Kharkiv and northern Luhansk," Poroshenko said at a meeting of the national security and defence council.

Poroshenko called the meeting of his top security chiefs after Russian-backed separatists staged elections in the east and installed leaders of "people's republics", defying Kiev and the West which had denounced the ballots as illegal.

(Writing By Richard Balmforth; Editing by Janet Lawrence)