DONETSK, August 31 (RIA Novosti) – At least one civilian was killed on Sunday as the Ukrainian military and independence supporters kept on fighting over the airport in the eastern city of Donetsk.
The militia concentrated their artillery in the village of Spartak near the Donetsk Airport. They are shelling the airport and a located nearby military unit controlled by pro-Kiev forces, RIA Novosti reporter said.
At least 20 residential buildings have been destroyed and one villager killed by the Ukrainian Army’s return fire. The residents of Spartak village spent all day hiding from the gunfire in basements and cellars of their houses.
Since mid-April, Kiev has been conducting a military operation against the southeastern regions of Ukraine that refused to recognize the legitimacy of the new government after a February coup. The fighting intensified after Donetsk and Luhansk regions proclaimed independence in May.
Almost 2,600 people, including the victims of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crash, have been killed and more than 6,000 injured since the start of Kiev’s military operation in eastern Ukraine, according to the UN.