Ukraine Forces Suffer Worst Losses of Crisis Amid Unrest
By Daria Marchak, Volodymyr Verbyany and Daryna Krasnolutska May 22, 2014 3:05 PM ET
Fighting flared anew in Ukraine three days before a presidential vote, with 16 soldiers killed near a checkpoint in the deadliest clash for the military since the secession campaign began after Russia annexed Crimea.
An attack by pro-Russian insurgents near Volnovakha, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of Donetsk, left 16 servicemen dead, First Deputy Health Minister Ruslan Salyutin said in televised remarks. One soldier was killed and two injured in the Luhansk region, the Defense Ministry said.
“There’s a brutal war under way against our country,” acting President Oleksandr Turchynov said on parliament’s website. “Ukraine will never return to a post-Soviet neo-empire, which the Russian government dreams about.”
The conflict is taking a deadly turn after President Vladimir Putin said he’s easing the way for Ukraine’s May 25 election by pulling back Russian troops. The government in Kiev accused its eastern neighbor of seeking to destabilize the country before the ballot as Russia’s Foreign Ministry said holding the vote during a conflict will be “very difficult.”
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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-22/russia-says-troops-near-ukraine-to-return-to-bases-by-jun.html
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