International News

KIEV, (APP/AFP): Two Ukrainian soldiers and a civilian
have been killed in eastern Ukraine amid deadlocked international
efforts to halt the violence, the military said on Thursday.
“As a result of hostilities, over the past 24 hours two Ukrainian
soldiers have been killed and two more wounded”, Ukrainian military spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk told journalists.
He said they died in “criminal” rebel sniper fire, adding that the
first soldier had been shot dead in the Donetsk region and the second in
the Lugansk region.
One civilian was also killed and another injured in the village of
Pavlopil some 70 kilometres south of the rebels’ de facto capital Donetsk, when their tractor hit a landmine.
“This is the fifth incident since the beginning of 2016”, Motuzyanyk
said, referring to a mine explosion hitting a civilian vehicle.
Last week, France and Germany held a round of talks with Ukraine and
Russia in Berlin as part of efforts to try to seek a lasting peace deal but no consensus was reached over elections in the separatist regions.
Around 9,300 people have died and more than 21,000 injured since the
mainly Russian-speaking regions revolted against Ukraine’s new pro-Western government in April 2014.