Junta's attack continues: Self-defense units in Slavyansk, Kramatorsk claim to have killed 8 Ukrainian gov't troops, destroyed several armored vehicles

Voice of Russia
Wed, 14 May 2014 03:31 UTC

© Reuters

Ukrainian soldiers in an earlier clash with pro-Russia protesters in a field near Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine

Self-defense units opposing the de facto Kiev authorities in Slavyansk and Kramatorsk, the Donetsk region of Ukraine, claim to have killed at least 8 troops and destroyed several armored vehicles belonging to the government forces early on Wednesday.

"There was another armed clash at night, and the enemy again tried to launch an offensive at about 1 o'clock. However, we managed to rebuff the attack and destroy several enemy armored vehicles. Eight of their men have been killed and seven wounded. Unfortunately, we also have losses," Vyacheslav Ponomaryov, the people's mayor of Slavyansk, told Interfax on Wednesday.

Ukrainian security forces attacked several areas outside Slavyansk and Kramatorsk in the early hours of Wednesday, Ponomaryov said.

"They used armored personnel carriers, they have fortified firing points there, and they used heavy mortars in the village of Andriyivka. They mainly fight on the outskirts and fear to enter the city," he said.

Ponomaryov said also that the situation in both Slavyansk and Kramatorsk was calm on Wednesday morning.

"Everything has been quiet since morning. There's been some shooting now and then, but we've got used to it," he said.