Separatists Fire on Ukraine Troops Returning From Russia : Kiev
Pro-Russian separatists opened fire on unarmed Ukrainian soldiers on Tuesday as they crossed back into Ukraine from Russia where they had taken shelter from fighting, Kiev defense officials said.
Ukraine acknowledged on Monday that 311 soldiers and border guards had been forced by fighting with separatists to cross into Russia. It said they had destroyed their weapons before crossing the border, but the rebels said they had left them behind, enabling separatists to seize them.
“Today at about 6 a.m. (separatist) fighters treacherously fired on a column in which there were 195 unarmed Ukrainian troops returning from the Russian Federation,” Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for the national defense council, told Interfax news agency. He had no immediate word on casualties.
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