International Shia News Agency

Fresh fighting breaks out in eastern Ukraine

On Sunday, Ukrainian soldiers inside the airport were allegedly surrounded by pro-Russians, which had been driven out of the strategic facility in May.

 

SHAFAQNA- Fresh fighting has broken out between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian forces around the airport of the flashpoint city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.

Shelling and heavy gunfire were reported around the airport. The fighting put a shaky three-week-old ceasefire under more strain.

The truce was agreed between the two sides on September 5 to pave the way for an end to the crisis in the country’s eastern regions.

On Saturday, Volodymyr Polyoviy, a spokesman for Ukraine’s National Security Council, said a civilian and a Ukrainian army trooper were killed in fighting at the town of Shchastya in the eastern city of Luhansk. Sixteen others were also wounded.

Ukraine’s mainly Russian-speaking regions in the east have witnessed deadly clashes between pro-Moscow forces and the Ukrainian army since Kiev launched military operations to silence pro-Russians in mid-April.

Violence intensified in May after the two flashpoint regions of Donetsk and Luhansk held local referendums in which their residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence from Ukraine.

The United Nations says over 3,500 people have been killed during the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Kiev and its Western allies have repeatedly accused Moscow of destabilizing Ukraine by supplying arms to the pro-Russian forces fighting for control of the eastern regions, but the Kremlin denies the accusation.

 

Source: Press TV

www.shafaqna.com

 

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