Kiev vows to punish pro-Russians after attack

Kiev vows to punish pro-Russians after attack

Fri Jul 11, 2014 5:36PM GMT

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Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has vowed to "find and destroy" the pro-Russia forces responsible for a missile attack that killed dozens of government troops.

Poroshenko’s comments came in a statement posted on his website after 23 Ukrainian servicemen were killed and nearly 100 others wounded in a strike on Friday on an army brigade near the border with Russia.

"All those" who did the attack "will be found and destroyed," said Poroshenko.

According to Ukrainian military sources, pro-Russia forces launched the attack on a border post at Zelenopillya in Ukraine’s easternmost Lugansk region.

The missile attack is seen as a setback for the Ukrainian government after recent advances by its forces, which have pushed pro-Russians closer to Ukraine’s eastern borders.

Ukrainian forces regained control of the eastern city of Slavyansk on July 5 following overnight attacks. Andrei Purgin, deputy prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, said fighters only left Slavyansk to protect the civilian population.

The country's mainly Russian-speaking parts in the east have witnessed deadly clashes between pro-Russia activists and the Ukrainian army since the government in Kiev launched military operations in mid-April in a bid to crush the pro-Russia protests.

Violence intensified in May after the Donetsk and Lugansk regions held local referendums, in which their residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence from Ukraine.

Hundreds of people have been killed in the ongoing military campaign in Ukraine, which has also forced tens of thousands to escape to Russia.

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http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/07/11/370876/ukraine-vows-to-punish-prorussians/