Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko has reported that 568 Ukrainian troops had been killed in the four months of fighting in eastern Ukraine, and 2,120 wounded. One of those killed on Sunday was volunteer battalion fighter Nikolai Beryozovoi, the husband of well-known journalist Tetyana Chernovil, whose beating in December became a symbol of the brutality of the Viktor Yanukovich regime.
A UN report at the end of July has said 1,129 civilians had been killed and 3,442 injured in the conflict.
The border service said Russian forces continue to shell Ukrainian territory, hitting two border posts overnight with artillery and mortar fire. It also accused Russia of violating Ukraine's airspace with swarms of surveillance drones, reporting five such flights overnight.
The Donetsk rebels have changed leadership and said on Saturday they were ready for a ceasefire. Kiev rebuffed a truce offered by commander Alexander Zakharchenko, who replaced Russian citizen Alexander Borodai as PM of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic last week, saying the rebels must first surrender their arms.
Ukrainian forces have bombarded Donetsk in recent weeks. Five shells landed at a high-security prison colony, killing one convict and setting off a mass jailbreak that allowed a reported 106 inmates to flee. According to a statement by Ukraine's penitentiary service, 34 of the escaped convicts had returned by Monday afternoon. Many of the others "had notified the institution's management by phone that they intended to return to the colony to continue serving their sentences as soon as the situation stabilises".
Comments
Post a Comment