Ukraine says insurgents attack border guards
LUHANSK,
Ukraine (AP) — Hundreds of armed insurgents attacked a border guards'
camp in eastern Ukraine, and at least five rebels were killed in the
clash, a spokesman for the guards said Monday.
Associated Press
Ukraine says insurgents attack border guards
By NEBI QENA and PETER LEONARD
3 hours ago
Reuters Videos
Pro-Russia militia attack Ukraine border post
LUHANSK,
Ukraine (AP) — Hundreds of armed insurgents attacked a border guards'
camp in eastern Ukraine, and at least five rebels were killed in the
clash, a spokesman for the guards said Monday.
Rebels in
uniform near the Luhansk base promised safety for the officers 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 The
Associated Press by telephone that a preliminary assessment indicated
that five rebels were killed and eight injured in the attack on the camp
in Luhansk, a major city not far from the Russian border. He also said
seven servicemen were injured, three seriously.
The
initial attack by about 100 insurgents was met by firing from the
border guards, and the number of attackers swelled to around 400 a few
hours later. Astakhov said the fighting was continuing and that the
Ukrainian forces had sent an airplane to the area, but still had been
unable to quell the attack.
An
AP reporter saw at least one dead rebel soldier about a kilometer
(half-mile) away from the base. Fellow fighters approached and broke
into tears as they viewed the body. One insurgent said the dead man was a
leading rebel commander.
The
fighting stopped around 1.00 p.m. local time but resumed a few hours
later with heavy gunfire heard in the area. There was no clear evidence
of the Ukrainian troops' air dispatch to the region.
One insurgent fighter in
uniform, who gave his name as Vlad Sevastopolsky, said pro-Russian
militants have surrounded the base but offered Ukrainian troops a safe
corridor out, as long as they surrender their weapons. Sevastopolsky is
from a rebel group based in the town of Antratsyt, another town in the
Luhansk region.
Vladislav
Seleznyov, press secretary for Ukraine's operation against the rebels in
the east, described the base as an important coordinating node for
border guards across the province, and said the attack may have been an
attempt to disrupt communications.
Seleznyov
also said there was another rebel attack Monday on a government
checkpoint in Slovyansk, a city in the Donetsk region that has been an
epicenter of the pro-Russian movement. He said rebels had mined a number
of power plants in Slovyansk, which he claimed would be detonated if
the government were to move on the city.
In
the regional capital of Donetsk, gunmen from the self-proclaimed
Donetsk People's Republic on Monday entered the office of the local
newspaper and took away its editor, Leonid Lapa, his deputy Valery
Lapshin told The Associated Press. The gunmen said they were taking the
Vecherny Donetsk editor for questioning.
For
weeks, Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine has been the scene of deadly
clashes between government troops and pro-Russian insurgents.
Months of protests during
last fall and winter drove pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych to
flee the country. Many in Ukraine's east are suspicious of the new
pro-Western government in Kiev, and protests in favor of greater
independence from the Ukrainian capital soon turned into a separatist
movement as the Luhansk and Donetsk regions declared independence
following hastily called referendums.
The
conflict between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian insurgents
in eastern Ukraine escalated markedly in the past week, with rebels
attempting to seize a major airport and the shooting-down of a Ukrainian
military helicopter.
In
Moscow, the Russian defense ministry announced on Monday a military
exercise involving the launch of high-precision missiles. The ministry
said the maneuvers of the Western Military District will continue
through Thursday and will involve the deployment of Iskander
surface-to-surface missiles.
Moscow didn't specify the areas where the exercise will be held and made no mention of the situation in Ukraine.
____
Leonard
reported from Donetsk, Ukraine. Laura Mills in Kiev, Ukraine, and
Vladimir Isachenkov and Nataliya Vasilyeva contributed to this report
from Moscow.
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