Credit: Reuters/Yannis Behrakis
1 of 4. Ukrainian soldiers secure an area near the site (seen in background) where pro-Russian rebels killed thirteen Ukrainian servicemen in the outskirts of the eastern Ukrainian town of Volnovakha, south of Donetsk May 22, 2014.
'They (the separatists) are using automatic weapons, snipers and grenade launchers against the battalion,' Semen Semenchenko, the commander of a pro-Ukrainian militia group called the Donbass region battalion, said on his Facebook page.
Yuri Bereza, the commander of pro-Ukrainian self-defence forces in a nearby region who had headed to the scene, told Reuters by telephone: 'The fighting is still going on, we are evacuating the wounded.' He gave no figure for the wounded.
On Thursday, at least 13 Ukrainian servicemen were killed in a firefight with rebel gunmen south of Donetsk, an industrial hub where the separatists have proclaimed a 'people's republic' and have vowed to disrupt Sunday's presidential election.
(Reporting by Gareth Jones; Editing by Richard Balmforth)
Entities 0 Name: Donetsk Count: 2 1 Name: Volnovakha Count: 1 2 Name: Donbass Count: 1 3 Name: Semen Semenchenko Count: 1 4 Name: Yuri Bereza Count: 1 5 Name: Reuters Count: 1 6 Name: Reuters\/Yannis Behrakis Count: 1 7 Name: Richard Balmforth Count: 1 8 Name: Gareth Jones Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/1m87Lyv Title: Clashes In Eastern Ukraine Leave 8 Dead Description: Posted: Print Article KIEV, May 22 (Reuters) - At least eight Ukrainian security personnel were killed and 18 injured in an overnight clash with pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, security sources said on Thursday.
