Ukraine troops retake Donetsk airport area with ‘mass operation’
Source: Guardian/Reuters
Ukrainian troops launched a “mass operation” overnight, retaking almost all the territory of Donetsk airport in eastern Ukraine lost to separatists in recent weeks, military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said on Sunday.
The army’s offensive at the airport brought the fighting close to the city of Donetsk itself, centre of a pro-Russian separatist rebellion. Residents reported intensified outgoing shelling including from residential areas in central parts of the separatist-held city.
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Lysenko said the operation had returned the battle lines near the airport to the previous status quo and that the Ukrainian army had thus not violated the Minsk 12-point peace plan agreed with Russia and separatist leaders last September.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman said the Kremlin was concerned over “the escalation of hostilities” and said the situation was not conducive to resolving the conflict. “This state of affairs in no way contributes to the implementation of the Minsk agreements and future search for a resolution,” Dmitry Peskov told Interfax.
Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/18/ukraine-troops-retake-donetsk-airport-area-mass-operation
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