Ukraine: Ukrainian soldier killed in clashes with Russia-backed separatists
Kyiv says one of its soldiers has been killed and three others wounded in a battle with Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.
The Defense Ministry said on July 8 that separatist fighters violated a cease-fire 16 times in a 24-hour period, using 120- and 82-millimeter mortars, tank weapons, and 122-millimeter artillery shells that are banned under the Minsk peace agreements.
The ministry said that Ukrainian armed forces killed two separatists and wounded five others.
Since April 2014, some 13,000 people have been killed in fighting between Kyiv’s forces and the separatists who control parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.