Pro-Russians seize more territories from Ukraine army, perhaps Kiev itself may soon be liberated

Thursday 28 August 2014

Pro-Russians seize more territories from Ukraine army, perhaps Kiev itself may soon be liberated

Pro-Russians seize more territories from Ukraine army

Wed Aug 27, 2014 10:27PM GMT

Pro-Russian fighters in eastern Ukraine have reportedly seized swathes of territory from government forces who abandoned vehicles and ammunition as they retreated.

Witnesses said they saw no signs of government troops south of the city of Donetsk.

According to reports, pro-Russian forces have pushed their way into the eastern port of Novoazovsk.

The mayor of the town on the Sea of Azov said that the activists had entered, but Ukrainian army claimed it was still in "total control" of the town.

After weeks of military operations that have seen government forces push deep into the last bastions of pro-Russians, the tide appears to be turning once again in the four-month conflict.

Kiev is now calling on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) for help. Evidence of the deteriorating situation emerged just hours after the first meeting in three months between President Petro Poroshenko and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

Ukraine’s mainly Russian-speaking regions in the east have witnessed deadly clashes between pro-Moscow forces and the Ukrainian army since Kiev launched military operations to silence the pro-Russians in mid-April.

The political unrest in eastern Ukraine has so far claimed the lives of more than 2,000 people, according to figures released by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

Nearly 300,000 people have also been forced to flee their homes due to fierce fighting in the east, according to the UN.

DB/MAM/MHB

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