30-35 Separatists Dead in Fighting in East Ukraine
A pro-Russian rebel said on Tuesday he believed about 30 to 35 separatists had been killed so far in nearly 24 hours of fighting with Ukrainian forces in Ukraine’s eastern city of Donetsk.Ukrainian presidential candidate Petro Poroshenko talks, during a press conference, in Kiev, Ukraine, Monday, May 26, 2014
Ukrainian presidential candidate Petro Poroshenko talks, during a press conference, in Kiev, Ukraine, Monday, May 26, 2014
The rebel, who was in his 30s and gave no name, spoke to Reuters as he and about a dozen fellow fighters drove off from a morgue near the center of Donetsk, where the separatists have been battling Ukrainian forces after seizing the city’s international airport on Monday.
It was the first indication of a death toll on either side in the latest bout of violence, which erupted a day after Ukrainians voted for a new president in an election which the separatists managed to block in much of the Donetsk region.
Earlier, Ukraine’s likely president-elect Petro Poroshenko says there will be no talks with “terrorists” – his word for the armed pro-Russian separatists in the east.
Unofficial results show billionaire candy maker Poroshenko winning Ukraine’s presidential election by a landslide
Poroshenko said Monday that peace can be reached thorough a dialogue with those he calls people, and that only weapons can be used when dealing with what he calls killers.
He also said he wants to open talks with Moscow, which pleases Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who says the chance for a dialogue with Ukraine cannot be wasted.
