Four Ukraine troops killed in restive eastern regions
Four Ukrainian forces have been killed as government troops press ahead with their full-scale military operations against pro-Russia forces in the country’s restive eastern regions.
Ukrainian officials said Wednesday three military personnel were killed and 10 others injured in attacks by pro-Russians on government vehicles and checkpoints in the east.
In addition, one Ukrainian border guard was gunned down when the Novoazovsk crossing point came under attack.
The deaths occurred as Ukrainian forces carried out over a hundred attacks against pro-Russia forces in the last 24 hours and took control of three villages in the east.
The renewed operations by government forces came after a 10-day ceasefire in the eastern regions ended on June 30. President Petro Poroshenko said the truce ended as “criminal elements had thwarted the chance for peace.”
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Ukrainian counterpart, Pavlo Klimkin, were to meet France’s Laurent Fabius and Germany’s Frank-Walter Steinmeier later on Wednesday to find a solution to the crisis in Ukraine.
The Russian top diplomat urged Ukraine to halt its crackdown on the pro-Russians and called on Washington to persuade the Kyiv authorities to change their current “destructive” course.
Ukraine’s mainly Russian-speaking parts in the east have been the scene of deadly clashes between pro-Russia forces and the Ukrainian army since Kyiv launched military operations against the protesters in mid-April.
According to recent figures, released by Ivan Simonovic, the UN assistant secretary general for human rights, 423 people were killed in the east Ukraine clashes between April 15 and June 20.
CAH/AB/SS