DONETSK, Ukraine â€" Pro-Russia rebels killed 19 and injured 93 of Ukraine's soldiers and border guards in a rocket attack near the country’s eastern border early on Friday, prompting the president to summon security advisers in Kiev for an emergency meeting, according to officials.
Ukrainian military officials said the rebels bombarded government forces stationed in the village of Zelenopillya, Luhansk region at 5 a.m. local time with rockets from a Russian-designed Grad system. Militants fired from a distance of more than 15 kilometers, and an air strike was carried out in response, according to the Defense Ministry.
The officials noted that casualties could be higher. Zoryan Shkyryak, an interior ministry adviser, told reporters in Kiev the exact death toll was difficult to discern, “because these bloodthirsty scum despicably shot from Grad systems and there is destruction,†Reuters reported.
The attack marks the biggest loss of life in a month. In June, rebels used man-powered air-defense systems, or MANPADS, to shoot down a military transport plane at Luhansk airport, killing all 40 servicemen and nine crew on board.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko convened a meeting with military and law-enforcement officials to discuss the rebels’ use of multiple rocket launchers against the country’s servicemen, the president's press service reported.
The government has blamed Moscow for arming the rebels and allowing for militants and weapons to cross the border into Ukraine, allegations the Kremlin has fervently denied, despite photo and video evidence from NATO.
“For every taken life of our servicemen, they will pay with tens and hundreds of theirs," President Poroshenko said. "Not a single terrorist will escape responsibility, everyone will get what they deserve."
On July 1, Ukraine restarted its “anti-terrorist operation†to pry the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk from the grips of pro-Russian separatists, who first seized control of them in April.
The resumption of the military operation came after peace talks between representatives from Ukraine, Russia, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and separatists failed to curb the violence and a 10-day ceasefire during which the rebels killed 27 Ukrainian troops in attacks.
Since the restart of the operation, government forces have reclaimed the northern parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, including the former rebel stronghold of Sloviansk last Saturday.
Forced to flee after enduring weeks of heavy shelling by Ukrainian forces, most of the estimated 15,000 rebels have consolidated in central Donetsk and are prepping for what is shaping up to be a bloody last stand.
In an attempt to block the advancement of Ukraine's armed forces, they have blown up four bridges, blocking access to their stronghold. The video below purportedly shows rebels on Friday blowing up a bridge between the cities of Dzerzhinsk and Horlivka, in the Donetsk region.
On Wednesday, one of their leaders vowed to fight to the end.
“We will have victory or death,†self-proclaimed governor of the Donetsk People’s Republic Pavel Gubarev told reporters.
Ukraine has moved into the regions about 30,000 troops, hundreds of armored vehicles, and heavy artillery, encircling the rebels ahead of what it promises to be a “nasty†offensive.
Also in Luhansk region on Friday, four servicemen were killed when their armored personnel carrier detonated a mine, Reuters reported Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko as saying. Another military spokesman said a government troop was also killed in the town of Karlivka, some 24 miles west of Donetsk.
Separately, at least five miners died and another five were injured when rebels opened fire on their bus, Lysenko said.
The shooting forced the miners’ employer, energy and coal company DTEK, owned by the country’s richest man, Rinat Akhmetov, to halt operations at four mines in Luhansk, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency quoted the company’s general director as saying.
Meanwhile, reports came in Friday evening that an explosion had ripped through a central Donetsk shopping mall, injuring one person, according to local news site Ostrov.
Details of the event remained unclear hours after the incident. But the explosion is said to have occurred on the second floor of the building.
“We know so far about one victim,†a spokesperson for the Donetsk city council told Ostrov. Firefighters and emergency workers were on the scene, and all employees and visitors had been evacuated, the news site reported.
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