Ukrainian government forces said they recaptured most of Donetsks airport yesterday after intense fighting over the strategically important site thats been a focus of combat since the conflict began last year.
Our forces managed to almost completely clear the territory of the airport, Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said in Kiev, adding that retaking the wrecked facility had been a massive operation. Donetsk rebels said heavy fighting was taking place but didnt mention the airports status in a posting on their website.
Four Ukrainian servicemen were killed and 32 were wounded, Lysenko said yesterday. He said the advance of troops at the airport doesnt violate the Minsk truce deal because Ukrainian forces cleared rebels from their side of the disengagement line.
The governments capture of the airport, following a week-long effort by separatists to take it over, rekindles the prospect of all-out war in the former Soviet republic. More than 4,800 people have died in the nine-month conflict, which has poisoned Russias ties with its former Cold War foes. Russia rejects accusations by Ukraine, the U.S., the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization that its meddling in the conflict by sending troops and weapons.
Russia is very concerned with the resumption of full-scale fighting in Donetsk and the shelling of residential areas, RIA Novosti reported, citing President Vladimir Putins spokesman, Dmitry Peskov.
Ukrainian troops began massive shelling of Donetsk yesterday morning, Donetskoye Agentstvo Novostey, the news agency set up by the breakaway Donetsk Peoples Republic government, said on its website, citing Valentin Motuzenko, a military aide to DPR head.
Its the first time that Donetsk has experienced such heavy shelling since summer, the website said, citing local residents.
The situation is catastrophic, Aleksandr Kofman, the rebel foreign minister of the DPR, said on the regions website. The DPR is the subject of a treacherous and full-scale attack from Ukraine which aims to destroy our people, our cities, our state, he said.
Rebels said two people killed and 16 wounded in Horlivka by shelling from Ukrainian government forces.
Two boys, 6 and 16 years old, were killed by rebel shelling with Grad multiple rocket launchers of Uhlehorsk, in Donetsk region, and a 19-year-old woman wounded, Ukraines Defense Ministry said in a statement on its website.
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Ukraine Forces Retake Most of Donetsk Airport, Government Says