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Five Ukrainian soldiers killed in rebel east: Ministry

Thursday, 23 August 2018 2:45 PM [ Last Update: Thursday, 23 August 2018 4:18 PM ]

This image taken on Aug. 16, 2015 shows a Ukrainian serviceman standing on a road outside the town of Zolote, near Lugansk. (Photo by AFP)

Five Ukrainian soldiers were killed and seven wounded in the country's rebel east Thursday in an attempt to hold back an assault by separatist forces, Ukraine's defense ministry said.

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

The battle early Thursday took place in Lugansk region near the village of Krymske when pro-Russian 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-caliber 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.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko as he poses with Ukrainian service personnel as they prepare to take part in a dress rehearsal for a military parade in Kiev, Ukraine, August 22, 2018. (Photo by Reuters)

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

Poroshenko on Thursday apologized to the country for grossly underestimating how long the conflict would last.

(Source: AFP)

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