The Ukrainian government has captured most of a town near Donetsk, tightening the noose around the key rebel-held stronghold, officials said yesterday.
Ukrainian Minister of the Interior Arsen Avakov said in a Facebook post that one soldier was killed and four wounded when a volunteer battalion came under mortar fire before entering the town of Ilovaysk, 18km east of Donetsk.
Among the wounded is the commander of the Donbass battalion, Semyon Semenchenko, who said government soldiers destroyed three rebel checkpoints and four firing positions, and that fighting continues.
Photo: AFP
Government efforts to quell the pro-Russian separatist front have focused lately on gradually encircling Donetsk, the largest rebel-controlled city.
Volunteer battalions have proven essential in the government offensive against armed separatists in the mainly Russian-speaking east.
Fighting between government troops and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine has forced nearly 344,000 people to flee their homes, according to the UN — a number that has only grown as the humanitarian situation in rebel-held cities deteriorates.
The situation appears to be particularly dire in the city of Luhansk, near the Russian border, which has been left without electricity, running water or telephone connections for 17 days. Independent reports from the besieged city are scarce since the area is very dangerous for journalists.
DEATH TOLL
The city hall said in a statement on its Web site yesterady that Luhansk and its city center came under fierce shelling overnight. An unspecified number of civilians were killed or wounded.
Paul Picard, head of an Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe mission to observe two Russia-Ukraine border crossings, told reporters in a Russian border town yesterday that observers had seen a marked increase of military activity around the border points over the past week, including Russian helicopter activity.
However, he said no helicopters were observed crossing the border.
Picard also said that the observers had seen “groups of young men and women wearing military-style dress” moving back and forth across the border.
No weapons or military vehicles were observed.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov yesterday said that Moscow is working on possible additional retaliatory measures in case Western nations impose new sanctions.
“Various options are being worked out. We have repeatedly said that Russia is not an advocate of the sanctions rhetoric and did not initiate it. But in the event that our partners continue the unconstructive and even destructive practices, additional measures are being worked out,” Peskov said.
He said the scope of further Russia sanctions would depend on the type of measures that Western nations may adopt in the future
In related news, sanctions Russia has imposed on agricultural products from the EU will cut Dutch exports by “at least 300 million euros” (US$400 million), based on last year’s figures, Statistics Netherlands said yesterday.
DUTCH EXPORTS
The total value of food exports to Russia, including fruit, vegetables, meat and dairy products, was 500 million euros last year. Those exports generated 300 million euros for Dutch businesses, while 200 million went to service providers in neighboring countries, the bureau said.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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