Fresh clashes erupt in Ukraine Kramatorsk
Iran Press TV
Sun May 18, 2014 4:40PM GMT
Fresh clashes have erupted between Ukraine's National Guard forces and pro-Russians in the city of Kramatorsk in the north of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region.
An official from the city's so-called self-defense forces said the violence broke out in the eastern city on Sunday when National Guard troops tried to move toward the city council building from a nearby airfield.
There are no reports of injuries yet. But stray bullets have caused some damage to civilian properties.
Reports also speak of clashes between government forces and activists in the neighboring city of Slavyansk.
Co-chairman of the government of the Donetsk People's Republic and deputy commander of the local self-defense volunteer corps Miroslav Rudenko told Russia's RIA Novosti news agency that fighting near Slavyansk and Kramatorsk intensified on Sunday morning.
'Things got particularly tough in the morning. There are full-scale hostilities around Slavyansk and Kramatorsk,' Rudenko said.
There have been no immediate reports of casualties.
On Saturday, Ukraine's Defense Ministry reported a shootout between military and self-defense forces at the airport in Kramatorsk. Civilians and Ukrainian military were not injured during the gunfire, the statement says, Interfax reports.
Ukraine's acting President Oleksandr Turchynov launched military operations in southeastern Ukraine in mid-April in a bid to root out pro-Russia demonstrations.
On May 12, Ukraine's eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk declared independence following local referendums in which the regions' residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence from Kiev.
On Sunday, authorities in Ukraine's eastern Kharkiv region also announced plans to hold a referendum to break away from Kiev. No date has been set for the vote yet.
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