4 killed in fresh clashes in E. Ukraine
Xinhua, May 1, 2015 Adjust font size:
Fierce clashes broke out again in eastern Ukraine, killing four people and wounding seven others in the past day, reports showed Thursday.
Andriy Lysenko, spokesman for the government's military operation in the east, said one Ukrainian soldier was killed and four others were wounded in battles with pro-independence insurgents across the region in the last 24 hours.
"The enemy refuses to respect the Minsk ceasefire, using prohibited weapons. Our positions were attacked 17 times from 122 millimeter mortars and twice from cannons," Lysenko told reporters.
Meanwhile, the rebel leadership said government forces violated the truce 34 times in the past day, shelling the insurgent positions with tanks, mortars, grenade launchers and small arms.
According to the self-styled defense ministry of the self- proclaimed Donetsk Republic, one insurgent fighter was killed and three injured in the attacks.
The confrontation in Donetsk city and Shyrokyne village, the main flashpoints of fighting has also claimed the lives of two civilians, said the insurgent-run "defense ministry".
The civilian deaths were neither confirmed nor denied by the Ukrainian authorities.
More than 6,100 people were killed in the year-old conflict in eastern Ukraine amid recurrent clashes. Since the Minsk agreement came into force on Feb. 15, the ceasefire has been generally observed with sporadic violations. Endite