Six killed, 15 injured in east Ukraine clashes

At least six people, including one civilian, have been killed and 15 others wounded in clashes between Ukrainian army soldiers and pro-Russia forces in Ukraine’s east over the past 24 hours, officials say.

On Tuesday, Ukraine’s military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said the attacks also left at least 12 Ukrainian soldiers wounded.

One civilian was killed in an attack at the Avdiivka Coke and Chemical Plant, which also caused a small ammonia leak.

According to Ukrainian sources in the eastern Russian-speaking Luhansk region, a soldier lost his life in an attack near the Russian border.

Four pro-Russia forces were also killed and three others wounded in the clashes.

Representatives from both sides announced that heavy fighting broke out near the strategic port city of Mariupol.

The clashes are seen by both sides as a violation of a ceasefire agreement reached in the Belarusian capital city of Minsk on February 11-12.

Mariupol is a strategic city as it is located on a highway that links areas under the control of pro-Russia forces in the east and the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which joined Russia in March 2014.

Eastern Ukraine’s Russian-speaking regions of Luhansk and Donetsk have been the scene of deadly clashes between pro-Russia forces and Ukrainian army soldiers since Kiev launched its military offensive to end pro-Moscow protests in April 2014.

The United Nations says more than 6,000 people have lost their lives so far in the 13-month crisis in eastern Ukraine.

SZH/KA/HJL

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