Fighting rages as Ukraine army launches offensive in restive townJune 3, 2014 - 15:41 AMT 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. Photo: AP Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | The Power of One Dram to benefit Road of Life charity The companies inform that the May beneficiary of The Power of One Dram is the “Road of Life” charitable organization. Ucom General Director gives lecture at French University in Armenia The General Director of Ucom Ralph Yirikian delivered a lecture at the French University of Armenia. Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. |