Five border guards were killed Monday after a column of vehicles came under fire in Ukraine’s southeastern city of Mariupol, the country’s State Border Service said.
The vehicles carrying food and other supplies to a Ukrainian division were ambushed. “The shooting was carried out using rifles and grenade launchers,” the statement said.
The servicemen later returned fire, and, as a result, five border guards were killed.
Militia in the Donetsk People’s Republic said earlier that a column of vehicles carrying supplies for Ukrainian security troops was attacked near villages to the southeast of Snizhne in Donetsk Region.
The Ukrainian government announced an operation to crush militia forces in eastern Ukraine after the eastern regions of Luhansk and neighboring Donetsk declared independence following referendums in April. Moscow has been critical of what Kiev has dubbed an “anti-terror” operation, warning of numerous civilian casualties.
