Rocket strikes in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk on Tuesday hit the headquarters of the military’s operation against Russia-backed separatists and residential areas ahead of a key summit aimed at ending the conflict.
President Petro Poroshenko told Ukraine’s parliament that rebels launched two salvos targeting Kramatorsk: one trageting the headquarters of the “anti-terrorist operation” in eastern Ukraine, while the second hit residential areas of the city.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Yuri Biryukov wrote on Facebook that two servicemen were killed and nine others injured at the military headquarters.
Donetsk Region Governor Oleksandr Kikhtenko said the rocket attacks on Kramatorsk killed eight civilians and injured 63, including five children and 32 servicemen. The Donetsk regional administration reported that the 32 servicemen were injured when a rocket hit an airfield.
Prior to the attack, Kyiv military spokesmen said at least seven Ukrainian soldiers had been killed in the last 24 hours of fighting in the east of the country.
At the front in Vuhlehirsk, a small town captured by rebels last week, volleys of artillery crashed in both directions. The rebels are pushing to encircle government forces holding out in nearby Debaltseve, a strategic rail hub that pro-Russian separatists have been trying to pry from Kyiv forces.
Earlier Tuesday, pro-government forces had reported making gains.
Source-VOA
