Ukraine: Ukrainian forces retreat from Luhansk airport
Ukrainian forces were given orders to retreat from the airport in Luhansk, the second-largest rebel-held city, in the face of an intensifying assault, Ukrainian National Security Council spokesman Col. Andriy Lysenko said on Monday, blaming the assault on “professional artillery gunmen of the Russian armed forces.”
Russia consistently denies allegations that it has sent troops or equipment into Ukraine. But Lysenko said Monday that “not less than four battalions and tactical groups of the Russian armed forces are active in Ukraine.”
A battalion consists of about 400 soldiers.
The assault on the Azov Sea coast that began last week has raised concerns that the rebels are aiming to establish a land corridor from Russia to Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that Russia annexed in March.