A Ukrainian soldier has been killed in a rebel attack near the ruins of Donetsk airport as clashes have intensified at the key flashpoint, a Ukrainian military spokesman said Tuesday.
It was the first death in fighting reported by the Ukrainian army since mid-October as a fragile truce has dampened down most of the violence that claimed over 8,000 lives in the past 18 months.
“Yesterday, the positions of the Ukrainian army near Pisky and Opytne came under fire that killed one Ukrainian soldier,” spokesman Oleksandr Zavtonov told AFP.
Donetsk airport has been one of the most fiercely contested scraps of territory in the conflict and was seized by pro-Russian separatists after an offensive in January.
The area remains one of the main hotspots and both sides repeatedly accuse each other of violating the ceasefire there.
