Slaviansk

"Serb volunteers fend off Ukrainian army attack"

MOSCOW -- A group of Serb volunteers Tuesday said they "repelled an offensive of pro-Kiev military forces, who attempted overnight to break through to a vital highway."

RIA Novosti noted in its report that the volunteers are "helping the Donetsk militia to fight government troops in eastern Ukraine."

Pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine have left the eastern town of Slaviansk and moved to Kramatorsk.

Ukrainian defense Minister Valeriy Heletey and the chief of military staff of Ukraine, Viktor Muzhenko, informed Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Saturday that the national flag had been raised over the city council building.

Pro-Russian separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine on June 29 released a second group of four monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) who had been seized on May 29.

Ukraine's new president Petro Poroshenko was sworn in during an inauguration ceremony on Saturday.

The ceremony at the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) was attended by a number of foreign delegations, including US Vice President Joe Biden and Russia's Ambassador to Ukraine, the BBC reported.

Over 20 Ukrainian army personnel have been killed during the special operation in the east of the country, Ukraine's acting Defense Minister Mykhailo Koval said.

According to Minister Koval, the standoff has claimed the lives of two helicopter crews, and several paratroopers, Russian Ria Novosti informs.

Ten people died near the town of Slaviansk in eastern Ukraine after pro-Russian separatists shot down a military helicopter.

Outgoing President Oleksandr Turchynov confirmed reports that Gen Serhiy Kulchitsky, a senior National Guard general in response for combat and special training, was among the victims.

A pro-Russian rebel leader in Ukraine’s Sloviansk says he is holding captive 4 OSCE observers.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said on Monday that it had lost contact with one of its monitoring teams in the Donetsk region.

An Italian journalist was killed Saturday during a mortar shell attack close to Slaviansk, Donetsk region, Italy's Foreign Ministry said.

"Unfortunately, all of the information points to the fact that he has died," a spokeswoman told AFP on Sunday.

Clashes between pro-Russian federalists and Ukrainian troops have reportedly led to a number of casualties in the eastern city of Slaviansk on Monday.

Russia has called UN Security Council's meeting on the conflict in Ukraine on Friday, warning the government in Kiev to stop its military operations in the east of the country.