Rebels Report 35 Dead in Combat in Eastern Ukraine
KYIV – Ukrainian insurgents on Monday reported that 35 of their number were killed when a grenade launched by government forces landed in the truck in which they were traveling in the eastern pro-Russian region of Donetsk.
“In Donetsk, a truck with the Vostok battalion that was transporting wounded from the airport under a first aid flag was hit. According to initial reports, there are 35 dead and 15 wounded,” said Pavel Gubarev, the “people’s governor” of Donetsk, on his Facebook page.
The incident occurred after heavy combat broke out at the airport in the regional capital, which had been taken over by a group of pro-Russian rebels who were then reinforced by dozens of militants, prompting the Ukrainian army to move against them.
In an attempt to expel the insurgents and retake control of the airport, the forces loyal to Kyiv launched a disciplined air attack involving fighter jets and helicopters.
“An ultimatum was given to the terrorists who, illegally, had entered the Donetsk airport. They were informed that if they did not comply with the demands of the Ukrainian forces forceful measures would be taken to liberate the airport,” said a Ukrainian spokesman.
When the rebels did not comply, “an air attack was launched on the positions of the terrorists,” said Vladislav Selezniov, the military operation’s press chief.
On Monday night, Ukrainian authorities announced that they had resumed the military offensive against the pro-Russian bastions in the regions of Lugansk and Donetsk after the holding of the country’s presidential election on Sunday, a vote that was boycotted by large portions of the country’s rebellious eastern districts.
On Monday, Gubarev also denounced what he said were numerous deaths among the civilian population in the area near the Putilovsk bridge after mortar attacks by the Ukrainian army.
Meanwhile, after the closure of the airport due to the combat taking place there, the Donetsk train station also had to be evacuated after a shootout that, reportedly, resulted in one death.
Ukrainian President-elect Petro Poroshenko on Monday expressed support for the continuation of the military offensive against the insurgents, but he said that “it must be more effective, shorter in time and with better-equipped units.”
“It cannot last two or three months. It must take hours,” he said, ruling out any negotiations with the insurgents, given that “no civilized country would hold negotiations with terrorists and we are a civilized country.”