Fighting continues in Ukraine's Donetsk
Iran Press TV
Mon Jul 21, 2014 8:55AM GMT
Fighting continues in Ukraine's eastern regions, as Ukrainian forces push ahead to retake the the Donetsk city, currently controlled by pro-Russian protesters.
Sergei Kavtaradze, an official of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, said Monday that at least four tanks and armored vehicles belonging to Ukrainian forces were trying to break though into the city.
There were also reports of intense shelling around the train station in Donetsk, with witnesses saying they saw plumes of smoke and heard loud explosions from the area.
According to reports, pro-Russian forces had closed off the roads in the area on the outskirts of Donetsk, and terrified civilians were fleeing the area in vehicles and on foot.
The renewed fighting comes as there is no sign of a halt to the conflict in Ukraine's eastern regions despite mounting pressure for a ceasefire following the crash of a Malaysian airliner over Ukraine's east on July 17.
The Malaysia Airlines Boeing, which was carrying 298 people, was en route from the Dutch capital, Amsterdam, to Kuala Lumpur when crashed in the Donetsk region.
Ukraine launched military operations in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Lugansk in mid-April to crush the pro-Russia protests there. Violence intensified in May after the two flashpoint regions held local referendums, in which their residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence from Ukraine.
Hundreds of people have been killed in the ongoing military campaign in the country. Tens of thousands have been forced to escape to Russia, while over 4.5 million people remain in the conflict zone, according to a UN report.
CAH/HJL
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
