KIEV, May 26 (RIA Novosti) – Ukrainian troops killed two opposition activists and captured 14 in an offensive on Sunday in Ukraine’s easternmost region of Luhansk, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said Monday.
“A violent headlong attack … yielded 14 captives, with another two destroyed,” the official statement on the ministry’s webpage said.
The statement added that several civilians and three Ukrainian servicemen had also suffered gunshot wounds. The ministry claimed the skirmish followed a string of attacks against by federalists at four polling stations in the area during Sunday’s presidential election.
In May, the Luhansk and Donetsk regions held self-rule referendums where the majority of locals voted in favor of independence from Kiev. After the voting, Luhansk authorities said the region would not participate in the snap presidential election.
The vicious offensive of troops loyal to the coup-imposed interim government came in the midst of Sunday’s vote, when Ukrainians headed to the polls to vote for a new president.
Moscow earlier vowed to recognize the results of the vote and negotiate with whoever succeeds the acting president in Kiev.
