Heavy Fighting In Eastern Ukraine On Sunday; Veteran Of Famous Battle Arrested For War Crimes

May 1, 2017
The destruction at Donetsk airport's new terminal which was ultimately captured by Russian-backed militants on January 21, 2015

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Heavy Fighting Rocks The Donbass

At the Sunday morning briefing, Ukraine’s military Anti-Terrorism Operation (ATO) reported 54 ceasefire violations over the previous 24 hours. Two Ukrainian soldiers were killed and another four wounded over that period of time: 

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Escalation in Donbas: Ukraine reports 2 KIAs, 4 WIAs

The situation remains tense in the area of the Anti-Terrorist Operation as the Russian-occupation forces continue armed provocations against the Ukrainian troops. Since the early hours of Sunday, the enemy opened fire 54 times on the Ukrainian strong points along the line of contact, according to the ATO press center.

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May 01, 2017 08:42 (GMT)

Fighting raged on Sunday. By the afternoon briefing another soldier was killed and two more were wounded, apparently by 120mm mortar fire. Unian.info reports:

“According to preliminary information, as a result of the shelling of the positions of one of the mechanized brigades, whose personnel carry out combat missions in the Luhansk direction near Katerynovka, a soldier of the Armed Forces of Ukraine died and two more troops were wounded,” the report said.

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Ukrainian soldier killed, another 2 wounded in enemy shelling near Katerynivka

"According to preliminary information, as a result of the shelling of the positions of one of the mechanized brigades, whose personnel carry out combat missions in the Luhansk direction near Katerynovka, a soldier of the Armed Forces of Ukraine died and two more troops were wounded," the report said.

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May 01, 2017 08:44 (GMT)

Meanwhile, an Austrian man who fought as a volunteer alongside the Ukrainian military has been arrested for alleged war crimes committed at the Donetsk Airport in 2014. Reuters reports:

The 25-year old is accused of “having killed soldiers involved in fighting at the Donetsk airport who had already surrendered and/or of having killed civilians”, said a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office in Wiener Neustadt in the northeastern province of Lower Austria. 

[…]

He was arrested at a border crossing to Ukraine close to the Polish town of Dorohusk by Polish border police on Friday evening, Lieutenant Dariusz Sienicki, a spokesman for the Polish border service said. 

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Austrian suspected of war crimes in Ukraine detained in Poland

VIENNA An Austrian man suspected of war crimes in the conflict between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine was arrested in Poland on Sunday, Austrian prosecutors said. The 25-year old is accused of "having killed soldiers involved in fighting at the Donetsk airport who had already surrendered and/or of having killed civilians", said a spokesman for the prosecutor's office in Wiener Neustadt in the northeastern province of Lower Austria.

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May 01, 2017 08:47 (GMT)

The Donetsk Airport was home to some of this conflict’s fiercest fighting, as Russian troops and equipment played a major role in besieging a small group of Ukrainian soldiers, nicknamed “cyborgs,” who defended the position against impossible odds for many months before finally being overrun by Russian-backed militants. 

James Miller