3 killed, 8 wounded in fresh east Ukraine clashes
Iran Press TV
Thu Dec 11, 2014 2:48PM GMT
Fresh clashes between the army and pro-Russia forces in east Ukraine have claimed the lives of three Ukrainian soldiers.
'We lost three soldiers and another eight were wounded in the past 24 hours,' Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council spokesman, Andriy Lysenko said on Thursday.
The Ukrainian official also accused the pro-Russia forces of violating the recent ceasefire agreement which officially went into effect on Tuesday.
'Terrorists are violating agreements and continuing to fire on positions of the Ukrainian military and civilians. Tanks and artillery were used, but our forces did not respond,' claimed Lysenko, citing 22 breaches of the truce so far.
The latest fatalities in the restive eastern Ukraine came despite the recent agreement between Kiev and pro-Russia forces to stop fighting from December 9 under the terms of a Kremlin-brokered ceasefire.
The representatives of Kiev, Moscow, and self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk republics had earlier signed a truce agreement on September 5 in the Belarusian capital, Minsk.
The two mainly Russian-speaking regions of Donetsk and Lugansk in eastern Ukraine have been the scene of deadly clashes between pro-Russia protesters and the Ukrainian army since Kiev's military operation started in mid-April in a bid to crush the protests.
Violence intensified in May after the two flashpoint regions held local referendums in which their residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence from Ukraine and joining the Russian Federation.
According to reports, around 4,300 people have lost their lives in eight months of deadly conflict in east Ukraine.
FNR/HMV/SS
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