Kiev mulls imposing "blockade" on rebel-held areas: official

Kiev is considering the possibility of imposing economic and transport restrictions to isolate the areas in eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-independence rebels, a senior parliamentary official said here Tuesday.

"We need to impose an economic blockade on the movement of goods made by the enterprises that do not pay taxes in Ukraine," Yury Lutsenko, the leader of the political bloc that supports Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, told a parliament meeting.

Kiev could also introduce tighter restrictions for the transport movement through the frontline in the conflict zone, prohibiting any vehicles to move from the rebel-held territories into the government-controlled areas, Lutsenko said.

He said all planned measures are aimed at tackling the smuggling of goods across the frontline and preventing the infiltration of insurgents into calm Ukrainian regions.

At the same time, Lutsenko stressed that the non-combatant residents of restive areas, who will move into Kiev-controlled territories after the possible siege, would be given loans to start small businesses.

In April 2014, Ukraine's military launched offensives against insurgents to regain control over the seized cities and towns in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions. Since then, more than 6,400 people have been killed and almost 16,000 wounded in the violent confrontation.

Currently, rebels control about half of the territory of the Donetsk region and one third of the area of the Lugansk region. Endi