Ukraine forces clear parts of eastern provinces: Koval
Iran Press TV
Fri May 30, 2014 3:31PM
Ukraine's acting Defense Minister Mykhailo Koval says government forces have cleared parts of the eastern provinces from pro-Russians.
Koval said on Friday that the country's forces have completed their assigned mission in the southern and western parts of the Donetsk region and the northern parts of Lugansk.
The acting defense minister added that Kiev will push ahead with its offensive against pro-Russia activists in the east until it "starts working."
This comes as Ukrainian forces earlier on Friday resumed their shelling on the eastern Donetsk city of Slavyansk.
Local residents said a children's hospital and a clinic in the city center came under fire. Reports said no one was injured, but the buildings were damaged by the shelling.
Slavyansk has been the scene of a fierce confrontation between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russia activists in recent weeks.
On Thursday, pro-Russia activists shot down a Ukrainian army helicopter near Slavyansk, killing at least 14 soldiers.
Ukraine's President-elect Petro Poroshenko said earlier in the week that he rules out negotiating with the pro-Russia activists, vowing to continue the military operations in the country's southeastern provinces.
The acting Kiev government launched its military operations in mid-April in a bid to root out pro-Russia demonstrations.
On May 12, Ukraine's eastern regions of Donetsk and Lugansk declared independence following local referendums in which the regions' residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence from Kiev.
The referendums followed a similar vote in Crimea in March that led to the reunification of the peninsula with the Russian Federation.
CAH/AB/SS
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