Unknown gunmen have attacked a checkpoint near Slavyansk in eastern Ukraine. Two people were killed, local self-defense forces spokesperson Stella Horosheva told RT.
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“Unfortunately, the reports of a shooting have been
confirmed,” Horosheva said. “Every night some sort of an
incident takes place at one of our checkpoints. This time
suspicious armed people were passing by and the self-defense
members approached them to check their IDs. But the gunmen opened
fire.”
Horosheva said that self-defense forces were investigating the
incident, trying to find out who was behind the attack.
Almost simultaneously there appeared reports of unknown gunmen
opening fire in the city of Artyomovsk, Donetsk Region.
"Artyomovsk is not calm now, there’s shooting. No information
yet of casualties or injured,” a representative of the
self-defense forces told Interfax over the phone.
Ukraine’s Interior Ministry, meanwhile, says about a hundred
unidentified militants attacked a military unit near Artyomovsk.
“Attackers were shooting with machine-guns, grenade guns and
were active in using fragmentation hand grenades,” the
ministry’s statement says, adding that Ukrainian troops managed
to repel the attack.
On Wednesday, authorities in Kiev announced they were resuming a military operation against protesters in eastern Ukraine, which they describe as an ‘anti-terrorist’ initiative.
“Law enforcement agencies are working on the eradication of all groups currently active in Kramatorsk, Slavyansk and other cities of the Donetsk and the Lugansk Regions,” coup-appointed First Vice-President Vitaly Yarema told journalists.
Protesters have pointed out the move was contrary to the agreement on de-escalation reached in Geneva.
The same day, the Ukrainian radical neo-fascist Right Sector
group announced that it is moving its main headquarters from Kiev
to Dnepropetrovsk to “closely monitor” developments in
the east.
“I moved my headquarters to Dnepropetrovsk. The purpose is to
prevent the spread of the Kremlin infection,” Ukrainian
presidential candidate and Right Sector leader Dmitry Yarosh
said.
Yarosh, placed by Russia on an international most wanted
terrorist list, also announced that he had begun to establish a
special squad of fighters called ‘Donbass’.
“We coordinate all of our actions with the leadership of the
National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, the Ministry of
Internal Affairs and Security Service of Ukraine,” Yarosh
said.