Ukrainian language

At least 5 people have died and 13 have been wounded during clashes between pro-Russian militants and Ukrainian border guards near the city of Luhansk on Monday.

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.

Ukraine's president-elect Petro Poroshenko vowed to punish pro-Russian rebels who downed an army helicopter in the east of the country, killing 12 troops in one of the deadliest attacks of the insurgency.

More than 50 pro-Russian rebels were killed in an unprecedented assault by Ukrainian government forces, which raged into a second day on Tuesday after a newly-elected president vowed to crush the revolt in the east once and for all.
   

The Ukrainian news agencies report that the voter turnout in the early presidential elections in Ukraine is high. 

At least 11 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in the Donetsk region, the government stated.

The Defense Ministry said on its website that "terrorists" armed with automatic rifles and anti-tank weapons attacked a Ukrainian military checkpoint near the Volnovakha area, Donetsk Oblast. As a result of the shootout, 11 people were killed, while some 30 others were injured.

Accommodation prices in Bulgaria's Black Sea resorts will post a decline of 20-30% this summer due to the expected Russian and Ukrainian market stagnation.

Prices will drop more in the south - by 30%, while on the northern Bulgarian Black Sea coast they will decline by 20%, Ilko Zapryanov, Director of Sales at Sv.Sv. Konstantin i Elena holding AD told Standart news.

The leadership of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic in Ukraine has begun unification talks the rebel-controlled Luhansk region, its representatives claim.

No solution to the Ukraine crisis could be reached if authorities do not engage in a dialogue with "opponents of Kiev's regime", Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said Monday.

At a press conference, Lavrov stressed the importance of a "national dialogue" in Ukraine based on a proposal by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Pro-Russian separatists in two eastern regions in Ukraine, Donetsk and Luhansk, are holding "self-rule" referendums.

The "People's Republic" of Donetsk was proclaimed on April 7 and the "People's Republic" of Luhansk was proclaimed on April 27 by heavily armed pro-Russian activists.