Government soldiers killed, wounded in withdrawal: Ukraine

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said Thursday that at least 13 Ukrainian soldiers were killed and 157 others wounded during their pullback from the war-engulfed Debaltseve town in Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine.

"The vast majority of those wounded have been sent to military hospitals, where they are receiving medical care," the statement on the ministry's website said.

Beside the casualties, at least 90 Ukrainian servicemen were captured and 82 others went missing following fierce battles with pro-independence rebels near Debaltseve, the flashpoint of fighting in eastern Ukraine, the statement said.

Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said that in the past 24 hours, 14 government troops were killed and 172 wounded in clashes with rebels.

However, it was unclear whether that figure included the casualties near Debaltseve.

Early Wednesday, Ukrainian forces began to withdraw from Debaltseve, amid reports that pro-independence rebels besieged the town and the government troops attempted to break through the encirclement.

The fighting in Debaltseve has been raging over the past few days despite the ceasefire agreement reached on Feb. 12 between the government troops and the rebel forces.

Insurgents claimed that the truce, reached in Minsk, capital of Belarus, does not apply to Debaltseve, as the rebel leadership consider the town as "an internal territory" of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic. Endi