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Fighting between pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian forces in the east of the country has left 15 government soldiers dead and 30 wounded over the past 24 hours, Ukraine’s Defence Minister Stepan Poltorak said today.
“In the last day, 15 soldiers died and 30 more were wounded. That is the figure for the whole frontline,” Mr Poltorak told journalists.
Ukraine’s military conceded Thursday that its forces had been overrun by Russian-backed separatist forces in another town in their battle to hold onto a strategically valuable railway hub.
A soldier wounded in combat for the town, Vuhlehirsk, said armored vehicles and tanks were used in the attack on government positions, forcing a hasty retreat.
Defense Ministry spokesman Vladislav Seleznyov said fighting is now under way to expel the rebels from Vuhlehirsk.
About 30 people have been killed in the eastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol as fighting escalated to the worst level in months. Pro-Russia separatists had announced they were launching an offensive on the strategic city.
The death toll from rocket fire attacks in eastern Ukraine climbed on Saturday, with an estimated 30 people killed and dozens more wounded in a residential area of the city of Mariupol.
Rebel leaders in eastern Ukraine vowed Friday to extend their advances against government troops and boycott further peace talks despite a diplomatic push to implement a long-ignored cease-fire.
But with Russia, the rebels’ main backer, joining the West in calling for more talks, it wasn’t clear what the latest separatist claims would mean on the ground. Both sides have often exaggerated their military ambitions in public statements.
Ukrainian officials said Thursday that their forces have retreated from the main portion of the airport at Donetsk, a key turning point in an eight-month battle with Russian separatist forces that has turned the facility into a hulk of twisted metal and shattered glass.
“Taking into account the danger and in order to save lives, … it was decided yesterday to move out of the terminal’s territory and to the new lines,” Vladyslav Seleznyov, spokesman for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said at a briefing.