Pro-Russian Militants Killed in Clash at Ukraine Port City
Ukrainian forces engaged pro-Russian separatists Thursday in what appeared to be the most intense battle yet in the restive east, killing three militants and wounding 13 after what the Interior Ministry described as a siege on a military base in the southeastern city of Mariupol on the Sea of Azov.
“A mob of 300 militants, wielding guns, Molotov cocktails and homemade explosives, attacked the Ukrainian military outpost in the city overnight,” Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said in a statement. The attack, he said, was repelled by National Guard and police in the city, he said.
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A column of armored vehicles flying Russian flags drove into an eastern Ukrainian city controlled by pro-Russia demonstrators Wednesday, dampening the central government’s hopes to re-establish control.
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After a “short battle,” Ukrainian commandos and counterintelligence units fanned out into the city by ground and helicopter in an operation to round up militants. He said that 63 separatists had been detained in what remained an ongoing operation. Avakov reported no causalities among Ukrainian forces.
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