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4 die in fighting in southeastern Ukraine
 Four soldiers from the Ukrainian army and Russian backed rebel forces died in ongoing fighting in Donetsk, according to Russian language news accounts. The Ukrainian news daily lb.ua said in a Wednesday report that rebel shelling in Avdievka, which is in the northern area of Donetsk city, killed one Ukrainian soldier and wounded one other. Rebels shelled Staragnatovka using a variety of heavy weapons Wednesday night from 1800 hrs to midnight. The weapons included BMP-2 and tank main gun fire. One Ukrainian soldier was wounded. The report went on to say that rebel shelling on Zaitsevo, which is just north of Gorlovka damaged an undisclosed number of residences. The report also said that observers with the International Committee of the Red Cross were present when rebels started their attack. The Ukrainians did not return fire. No one was wounded in the attack. The rebels have denied the attacks even took place, according to a statement released on the Donetsk ministry of defense web page. Quoting Donetsk military official Lt. Colonel Eduard Basurin, military commanders were "extremely surprised" by the news of rebel artillery fire in Zaitsevo. The Ukrainian news release came from the Ukrainian 128th Separate Mountain Infantry Brigade. The Ukrainians subsequently responded with a number of photographs detailing the destruction in Zaitsevo. Three residences were damaged in the attack, according to a separate report, which was on the website of lb.ua. According to rebel media, a Russian news television crew came under Ukrainian fire in Holmovsky, which is apparently just adjacent to Gorlovka. No injuries were reported in the attack. A separate rebel news release said that three Donetsk soldiers were killed in a Ukrainian artillery attack, but it did not elaborate where and under what circumstances. Rebel media said that Ukrainian overnight artillery fire damaged three residential buildings in Spartak, which is near the Donetsk airport. Another three residential buildings were damaged in Ukrainian overnight shelling on Dokuchaevsk, which is just south of Donetsk city. Other rebel reports say that Ukrainian artillery hit several rebel held locales in southern Donetsk, near Mariupol. Posted by: badanov 2017-08-18 |
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