Many Soldiers Die In Donetsk Attack
Ukraine's Government has confirmed aa deadly attack on troops , in the Eastern region of Donetsk , with reports saying at least 11 soldiers died , heavily armed "terrorists" attacked a checkpoint in the Volnovaha area killing or wounding a number of soldiers the defence ministry said
A.P. Journalists counted 11 bodies at the scene while a Russian website said 15 soldiers had died
Russia appears to be withdrawing troops from it's border with Ukraine , nato chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in a Tweet that Russian troop activity near the Ukraine border suggested some Russian forces were preparing to pull back
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops near the border to withdraw to their bases earlier this week correspondents said removing the troops , estimated to number 40,000 could help de escalate the Ukraine crisis
Ukrainian's go to the poll's on Sunday to choose a new President but votin g in Donetsk and Luhansk has been seriously disrupted by the insurgency there
The election was called after the last elected President Viktor Yanukovch was deposed in February amid mass protest against his Pro Russian policies
A.P. news agency journalists at the scene of the attack outside the village of Blahodatne near the town of Volnovakha , said 30 other soldiers had been wounded
Three charred Ukrainian armoured infantry vehicles , their turrets blown away by powerful explosions and several burned lorries stood at the site of the fighting , the defence ministry blamed the latest attack on "terrorists" , the term commonly used by the Ukrainian officials for armed Pro Russian separatists in Donetsk and neighbouring Lunhansk region
Donetsk rebel leader Pavel Gubarev went on facebook to deny that separatist forces had attacked the soldiers , however a self styled rebel commander in a nearby town , Horlivka told reporters that his forces carried out the assult and had seized weapons , "we destroyed a checkpoint of the facist Ukrainian Army deployed on the land of the Donetsk Republic" said the commander who wore a balclava and identified himself by his nom de guerre Bess ("demon" in Russian)
"The weapons you see have been taken from the dead , they are trophies , people living in Western Ukraine think about where you are sending your brothers , fathers and sons , and why you need any of this "
Separatists have been skirmishing with security forces in Donetsk for weeks , but this is the deadliest attack on soldiers to date
Ukrainian security chief Andriy Parubly said four attacks had taken place overnight , three of them repelled with loss of llife and one , in the Luhansk region is still going on