Ukraine: Pro-Russian rebels launch deadliest attack yet in eastern Ukraine killing 13 soldiers
At least 13 are dead in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region after pro-Russian insurgents carried out a surprise assault on Ukrainian soldiers who were manning a checkpoint early Thursday. It was the deadliest single raid in a more than a month of violent episodes.
Citing Interim President Oleksandr Turchynov, Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported 13 Ukrainian soldiers were killed in the shootout, and several more were wounded in bucolic Blahodatne, a typically quiet village about 18 miles south of the regional capital Donetsk.
Associated Press reporters who were on the ground at the time said they saw 11 bodies strewn around the scorched checkpoint. Eyewitnesses told the AP that more than 30 Ukrainian troops were wounded when the insurgents attacked the checkpoint, and some of them were in serious condition.