Pro-Russia forces kill 5 Ukrainian soldiers, injure one: Kiev
A Ukrainian military official has announced the deaths of at least five soldiers, following what he described as a mortar and gunfire attack in eastern Ukraine by pro-Russia forces.
Ukraine’s Army spokesman Andrey Lyssenko further stated on Saturday that the pro-independence fighters opened fire with 82-millimeter mortar rounds near the town of Marjinka in the outskirts of the east Ukrainian city of Donetsk, further injuring a Ukrainian soldier on the eve of municipal elections.
Lyssenko also added that the forces committed other “provocations” near the city of Luhansk, saying the attack violated a delicate truce agreement between the Western-backed government in Kiev and the independence-seeking Ukrainians in east of the war-ravaged country near the Russian border.
The development came as the second round of mayoral elections in the former Soviet Republic was scheduled to take place on Sunday with incumbent Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko running for reelection. The polls, however, have been boycotted in eastern Ukraine, where the pro-Russia forces have threatened to hold their own elections.
This is while the observers with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) have pointed to growing tensions in the restive area near the Donbass region, a stronghold of the pro-Russia forces.
The terms of the Minsk ceasefire stipulates the warring sides to withdraw military equipment 15 kilometers behind the front lines.
The implementation of the latest truce agreement, reached in Belarusian capital in February, has been making a very slow progress as Kiev and the pro-Russia forces accuse each other of delays and violations.
Over 8,000 people have perished in the eastern provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk since April 2014.
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