Five Ukrainian troops killed in rebel east

KIEV: Five Ukrainian soldiers were killed and seven wounded in the country’s rebel east yesterday in an attempt to hold back an assault by separatist forces, Ukraine’s defence ministry said.

“As a result of a five-hour-long battle, four Ukrainian soldiers died, and seven more received various injuries,” spokesman for the defence ministry Dmytro Gutsulyak told a press briefing.

The battle early yesterday took place in Lugansk region near the village of Krymske when proRussian separatists “attempted to overtake observation posts” on a local highway, Gutsulyak said.

Another soldier was killed in artillery fire elsewhere in the conflict zone, he added.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said Ukrainian troops were attacked with high- calibre artillery.

“The Russians are trying to attack the positions of our troops, violating the ceasefire,” he said.

Rebel officials, cited by official media in the so- called Lugansk People’s Republic, the separatist enclave in Lugansk region, in turn blamed the Ukrainian army for violating the truce.

More than 10,000 people have been killed since the Moscowbacked insurgency broke out in eastern Donetsk and Lugansk regions in April 2014 following Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. — AFP