KIEV: Fighting raged in eastern Ukraine for the second straight day yesterday as the army rolled out an offensive against pro-Russia separatists holding the city of Slaviansk, with dead and wounded on both sides, the Ukrainian government said.
Rebels in the town, a fierce separatist stronghold where a military helicopter was shot down last week killing 14 servicemen, said they had brought down a Su-25 attack aircraft and a helicopter, but this was denied by Ukrainian authorities.
Twelve hours after Kiev’s forces launched an overnight military operation in and around Slaviansk, Vladyslav Seleznyov, a spokesman for the Ukrainians, said: “Today we have had two killed and 42 wounded.”
He put the number of dead and wounded on the separatists side at about 300. This figure could not be independently confirmed.
“Fighting is continuing”, he told Reuters last evening.
President-elect Petro Poroshenko called for a resumption of military operations by government forces to quell rebellions by pro-Russian militia across the Russian-speaking east after scoring a resounding election victory on May 25.
The Kiev government says the fighting is fomented by Moscow, which opposes its pro-Western course, and accuses Russia of letting volunteer fighters cross into Ukraine to fight alongside the rebels. Moscow denies this and is urging Ukraine to end military operations and open dialogue with the separatists.
Ukraine formally announced yesterday that a total of 181 people had been killed “by terrorist activity” including 59 servicemen since hostilities broke out in April.
Since the government forces resumed their push against the rebels, there have been clashes in an around the main industrial hub of Donetsk and near the border town of Luhansk with loss of life on both sides.
REUTERS
