At least nine Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in overnight fighting in the town of Ilovaysk, located in the east of the volatile city of Donetsk, a top official says.
Andriy Lysenko, spokesman for the Ukrainian National Security Council, said on Wednesday that fresh clashes between the Ukrainian army troops and pro-Russia forces have left 9 soldiers dead and 22 others wounded.
The Kiev government troops have taken control of half of the town, located 18 kilometers (11 miles) east of Donetsk, and are currently facing fierce resistance from the pro-Russians, Lysenko added.
According to the latest reports, heavy fighting has also broken out in the volatile Ukrainian city of Lugansk. The government forces have regained parts of the city which is considered as one of the strongholds of the pro-Russia activists.
Tens of thousands of civilians, suffering from acute shortages of water and electricity, have fled the government’s military operations in the east.
Ukraine’s mainly Russian-speaking regions have witnessed deadly clashes between pro-Russia forces and the Ukrainian army since the government in Kiev launched military operations in mid-April in a bid to crush the pro-Moscow protests.
The political unrest in eastern Ukraine has so far claimed the lives of more than 2,000 people, according to figures by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
Nearly 300,000 people have been also forced to flee their homes due to fierce fighting in the east, the UN says.
