KIEV, Ukraine
At least 13 people, including 10 pro-Russian separatists and three Ukrainian soldiers were allegedly killed in clashes in eastern Ukraine Wednesday, a Ukrainian official said.
Markiyan Lubkivsky, head of the Ukrainian Security Service, said in a statement that Ukrainian army repelled an alleged attack by pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk region’s Mariinka and Krasnogorovka towns.
At least 10 separatists died and 80 others were injured in the town clashes, Lubkivsky said.
Yuriy Biryukov, an adviser to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, said in a statement that three Ukrainian soldiers were also killed and 31 others were injured in clashes in Marinka town.
The statement added that an alleged wounded Russian citizen was also captured during the clashes.
The casualty figures could not be independently verified.
The Feb. 12 Minsk cease-fire agreement includes the withdrawal of heavy weaponry from combat areas, and of all foreign-armed formations; release of all hostages and unlawfully detained persons as well as political reforms and decentralization in the eastern Ukrainian regions.
However, the agreement has failed to be implemented fully, with daily reports of breaches and clashes, and both parties blaming each other for violating the accord.
More than 6,000 people have lost their lives in the conflict between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists since April 2014, according to the UN.
