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Nikos Maziotis, the convicted leader of the Revolutionary Struggle leftist guerrilla group who has been on the run from police for two years, was arrested in central Athens following a shootout with police shortly after noon.
Police have been seeking Maziotis since July 2012 when he broke strict conditions, including a ban on leaving the prefecture of Attica, when he was released from pre-trial custody after serving the maximum legal time of 18 months on remand.
Rebel military leader Igor Strelkov said his forces had beaten off columns of government armour attacking from the south and west.
Germany and Russia have urged direct talks between Kiev and the rebels.
Up to 30 Ukrainian soldiers are presumed killed following an overnight rocket attack on July 11 by rebel forces in Luhansk Oblast, in the deadliest single attack on the army since it resumed its anti-terrorist operation 10 days prior.
The precise death toll of the incident remains unclear, with conflicting figures cited by a range of media outlets. A statement on the website of Ukraine’s Interior Ministry cites 19 deaths and 93 wounded.
The militia forces of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) have forced the Ukrainian army to retreat 10km from the Karlivka settlement to Galitsinovka village after continuous fighting on the approaches to Donetsk, the DPR press service told ITAR-TASS on Thursday.
According to the press service, the Ukrainian troops have been trying to seize Karlivka from the militia units for more than a week. The residents of nearby villages could hear the cannonade the whole day on Thursday. The Ukrainian troops used heavy artillery guns against the militias.
A woman cries near her burning house after shelling in the city of Slovyansk, Donetsk Region, eastern Ukraine, last month. The city of 100,000 has now been retaken from pro-Russian separatists. (AP)
Ukrainian troops have retaken the key stronghold of Slovyansk from pro-Russian forces in a sign that Kiev may be regaining control over the country’s east, months after insurgents swept through the region establishing a self-proclaimed independent republic.
The country’s president, Petro Poroshenko, and a spokesman for the rebels confirmed that the city of 100,000 was back in government hands after a night of fighting. Poroshenko ordered his troops to hoist the Ukrainian flag over Slovyansk’s city council building.