Ukraine conflict: Twelve pro-Russian rebels killed in clashes at Donetsk airport …
Updated
Pro-Russian separatists have suffered their worst casualties since a ceasefire officially began on September 5, losing 12 men in attacks on buildings at Donetsk airport, Ukrainian military officials said.
The ceasefire in eastern Ukraine has become increasingly frayed in recent days, leading to the death of a number of civilians and soldiers as well as a Red Cross worker in the rebel stronghold of Donetsk.
“The airport of Donetsk remains the priority target for terrorists,” military spokesman Andriy Lysenko told journalists.
“Yesterday they resorted to a few, fortunately unsuccessful, attempts to storm it.
“Twelve [separatists] were killed during the attacks and that is the biggest single loss among rebels since September 5,” he added.
Mr Lysenko said two Ukrainian servicemen were killed during the past 24 hours, but he gave no further details.
Ukrainian officials accused Russian forces on Friday of helping separatists to step up pressure on government troops holding the airport in Donetsk, threatening the fragile ceasefire.
The latest UN estimate is that more than 3,500 people have died in the conflict which erupted after pro-Western leaders took power in Kyiv following street protests that chased Moscow-backed president Viktor Yanukovich from power.
Two children killed trying to move unexploded shell: authorities
Meanwhile, authorities said two children were killed and five were injured in rebel-controlled eastern Ukraine when they tried to move an unexploded shell.
The incident occurred late on Friday in Zugres, a town about 30 kilometres east of Donetsk.
“Seven schoolchildren found an unexploded shell,” said a statement on the website of pro-Kyiv Donetsk region administration.
“When they tried to relocate it it exploded. As a result two children died on the spot. Five more were injured and hospitalised.”
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Pro-Russian militants take position on the roof of Donetsk international airport in eastern Ukraine on May 26, 2014. (AFP: Alexander Khudoteply)
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A Ukrainian helicopter Mi-24 fires decoy flares just after attacking Donetsk international airport in eastern Ukraine on May 26, 2014. (Reuters: Yannis Behrakis)
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Pro-Russian separatists from the “East” battalions speak with local residents during a rally in the eastern city of Donetsk. (Reuters)
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A man and woman cast their ballots at a polling station in the eastern Ukrainian town of Dobropillya. (AFP: Dimitar Dilkoff)
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Pro-Russian supporters queue to enlist as fighters of the so-called ‘People’s Republic of Donetsk’ outside the regional state building in eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk on May 18, 2014. (AFP: Alexander Khudoteply)
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An effigy depicting a representative of the Kyiv authorities is hung over a barricade in the eastern Ukrainian city of Slavyansk on May 13, 2014. (AFP: Vasily Maximov)
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A man holds a cross and a telephone as he stands near a barricade erected by pro-Russian activists during a rally in Donetsk on May 12, 2014. Pro-Moscow rebel leaders in eastern Ukraine called for their region to become part of Russia after declaring victory in a weekend referendum on self-rule. (Reuters: Maxim Zmeyev)
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A Ukrainian flag burns outside the city hall in Mariupol, eastern Ukraine, on May 7, 2014. Ukrainian forces seized the rebel-held city hall in the eastern port city of Mariupol overnight, driving out pro-Russian activists, then withdrew, making no attempt to hold onto the building, witnesses said on Wednesday. (Reuters: Marko Djurica)
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People climb a broken armoured vehicle left behind after Ukrainian forces attacked police headquarters in an attempt to drive out pro-Russian militants in Mariupol. (Reuters: Marko Djurica)
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Pro-Russian activists celebrate after they retake the Townhall building in the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol on May 7, 2014. The Ukrainian national guard had earlier stormed the building, held it briefly, and raised the Ukrainian flag. (AFP: Genya Savilov)
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A man salvages metal from the ruins of the Privat Bank building burned by pro-Russian activists in the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol on May 7, 2014. (AFP: Genya Savilov)
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Participants of a rally welcome a man (C) who was just released from a city police department and who was earlier arrested in recent street battles between pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian supporters in the Black Sea port of Odessa on May 4, 2014. (Reuters: Gleb Garanich)
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Ukrainian troops guard a checkpoint near the eastern city of Slaviansk on May 5, 2014. Four Ukrainian troops were killed and 30 wounded in intense fighting around the rebel-held town. (AFP: Sergey Bobok)
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Passersby look at wall of photos of fallen activists in a square in Kyiv, Ukraine, May 4, 2014. (ABC News: Mary Gearin)
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Officials from the OSCE special mission in Ukraine leave the mayor’s office in Slaviansk with a detained international observer. (Reuters: Gleb Garanich )
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Activists play-fight with sticks in a square in Kyiv, Ukraine, May 4, 2014. (ABC News: Mary Gearin)
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OSCE observers disembark from a plane upon their arrival at Boryspil International airport outside Kyiv on May 3, 2014. The group of military observers, seized last week by pro-Russian separatists in the eastern Ukrainian city of Slaviansk, has been released. (Reuters: Andrew Kravachenko)
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A woman lays flowers as members of the Ukrainian interior ministry security forces stand guard outside a trade union building in Odessa on May 3, 2014. At least 42 people were killed in street battles between supporters and opponents of Russia in southern Ukraine that ended with pro-Russian protesters trapped in a flaming building, bringing the country closer to war. (Reuters: Gleb Garanich)
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A pro-Russia protester sprays champagne after storming the governor’s business premises in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine on May 3, 2014. (Reuters: Marko Djurica)
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A Ukrainian soldier, with armoured personnel carriers behind him, points his weapon at an approaching car at a checkpoint near the town of Slaviansk in eastern Ukraine on May 3, 2014. (Reuters: Baz Ratner)
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A pro-Russian activist aims a pistol at supporters of the Kyiv government during clashes in the streets of Odessa May 2, 2014. Police said a man was shot dead in clashes between a crowd backing Kyiv and pro-Russian activists in the largely Russian-speaking southern port of Odessa, which lies west of Crimea, annexed by Moscow in March. (Reuters/Yevgeny Volokin)
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People wait to be rescued on the second storey’s ledge during a fire at the trade union building in Odessa May 2, 2014. At least 38 people were killed in a fire on Friday in the trade union building in the centre of Ukraine’s southern port city of Odessa, regional police said. (Reuters/Yevgeny Volokin)
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Students from the Eastern and Western parts of the country hold the reportedly biggest Ukrainian flag of the world ( 60 m meters length, 40 m in width) during an action in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on May 2, 2014 in support of a “United Ukraine”. (AFP/Yuriy Dyachyshyn)
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Ukrainian forces have reportedly attempted to retake the town of Slaviansk. (Reuters: Baz Ratner)
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Russian demonstrators with a flag that reads “we trust Putin” at an International Labour Day march in Moscow’s Red Square. (AFP: Yuri Kadobnov)
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Police officers in Donetsk, Ukraine, huddle for safety under their riot shields while surrendering to pro-Russian activists who overran the prosecutor’s office which they were guarding, May 1, 2014. (Getty Images: Scott Olson)
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A pro-Russian armed man stands guard outside the regional government headquarters in Luhansk, eastern Ukraine, April 30, 2014. (Reuters: Vasily Fedosenko )
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A pro-Russian activist throws flowers from a window of the regional government headquarters in Luhansk after separatists seized the complex. (AFP: Alex Inoy)
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Pro-Russian activists seized the regional government headquarters in Luhansk, eastern Ukraine on April 29. (Reuters: Vasily Fedosenko)
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An armed man in military fatigues stands guard outside a regional administration building seized by the separatists in the eastern Ukrainian city of Slaviansk on April 23, 2014. (AFP: Kirill Kudryavtsev)
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Pro-Russian armed men hold their weapons in front of the seized town administration building in Kostyantynivka. (Reuters: Marko Djurica)
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Vyacheslav Ponomaryov (second right), separatist de facto mayor of Slaviansk, and detained international observers take part in a meeting with journalists in the eastern Ukrainian city of Slaviansk April 27, 2014. -
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A man stands in front of a barricade near the secret service building in Lugansk, eastern Ukraine on April 22, 2014. (AFP: Sergei Supinsky)
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Armed pro-Russian men walk past activists hanging a Donetsk Republic flag outside the mayor’s office in Slaviansk, Ukraine, on April 21, 2014. (Reuters: Gleb Garanich)
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A Ukrainian soldier aims his weapon at pro-Russia protesters gathered in front of a Ukrainian airbase in Kramatorsk, April 15, 2014, after Ukrainian armed forces launched a ‘special operation’ against the protesters. (Reuters: Marko Djurica)
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A local stands by a barricade in in Slaviansk, eastern Ukraine on April 20, 2014. (Reuters: Gleb Garanich)
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Ukraine crisis: photo editor’s choice
Reuters/AFP
Topics:
unrest-conflict-and-war,
world-politics,
ukraine
First posted