Published: 6:58AM Tuesday June 03, 2014 Source: AP
RelatedHundreds of pro-Russia insurgents have mounted a daylong assault on a border guard base in eastern Ukraine, with some firing rocket-propelled grenades from the roof of a nearby residential building and prompting the deployment of air support by government forces.
At least five rebels were killed when the guards returned fire, a border guard service spokesman said.
Some 10 kilometres away, a blast at an administrative building held by insurgents claimed more lives. A health official for the Luhansk region told Interfax news agency that at least seven people had been confirmed dead in the incident, which rebels described as a government airstrike.
Authorities denied carrying out a strike and said the blast was caused by misdirected rebel fire from a portable surface-to-air missile launcher.
Russia's Foreign Ministry swiftly condemned what it described as a government attack on the rebel-held building and urged US Assistant Secretary of Defence Derek Chollet, who was visiting Kiev on Monday, to help calm unrest in Ukraine.
'We urge our Western partners to use their influence on Kiev, to stop Ukraine from descending into a national catastrophe,' the ministry said in a statement.
On the edge of Luhansk, in the Mirny district, rebels in camouflage promised safety for troops at a border guard service base if they surrendered and laid down their arms.
The pro-Russian insurgents, who have seized government and police buildings across eastern Ukraine, have waged increasingly aggressive attacks on government-held checkpoints and garrisons in an attempt to seize weapons and ammunition from Ukrainian forces.
Serhiy Astakhov, the spokesman for the border guard service, told bberitaa.blogspot.com by telephone that a preliminary assessment indicated that five rebels were killed and eight wounded in the attack on the walled compound on the western fringes of Luhansk, a major city not far from the Russian border. He also said seven servicemen were wounded, three seriously.
The initial attack by about 100 insurgents was met by gunfire from the border guards, and the number of attackers swelled to around 400 a few hours later. Mr Astakhov said the Ukrainian armed forces had sent aircraft to the area, but had been unable to quell the attack. At least one fighter jet was seen flying overhead.
Fighting was still reportedly ongoing as darkness fell Monday local time.
Posted by Unknown on Monday, June 2, 2014 - Rating: 4.5
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