Fighting rages as Ukraine army launches offensive in restive town

PanARMENIAN.Net - Fighting raged in eastern Ukraine for the second straight day on Tuesday, June 3, as the army rolled out an offensive against pro-Russia armed men holding the city of Slaviansk and claimed to have inflicted losses on them, according to Reuters.

The pro-Russian forces in the town, where a military helicopter was shot down last week killing 14 servicemen, said they had brought down a Su-25 attack aircraft and a helicopter, but this was denied by Ukrainian authorities.

The fighting in Slaviansk followed a day-long fire-fight on Monday in Luhansk, a town further east on the border with Russia, after an attack on a border guard camp.

At least two people were reported killed in the city center of Luhansk.

Reports of fresh fighting coincided with Ukraine announcing that 59 servicemen had been killed in clashes since hostilities broke out in the east in April.

"In Donetsk and Luhansk regions 181 people have been killed and 293 wounded by terrorist activity including 59 servicemen," general prosecutor Oleh Makhnitsky told a news conference.

The government says the fighting is fomented by Russia, which opposes its pro-Western policies, and accuses Russia of allowing volunteer fighters to cross into Ukraine to fight alongside the rebels.