The Ukrainian military has continued its fight against eastern rebels in the Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts today, reporting multiple battles which left 18 soldiers dead and 54 wounded.
The Ukrainian military spokesman reported the casualties spanned several battles in both oblasts, including a four-hour battle along the Luhansk-Russia border, during which they claimed to have been fired on from rebels on both sides of the border.
That’s not the first time such allegations have come about, and the mostly ethnic Russian rebels have at times moved in and out of neighboring Russia at will. The Ukrainian military insists it is close to defeating the rebels.
The ongoing war in eastern Ukraine has left around 1,100 people dead, according to UN estimates. The estimates of Ukrainian soldiers slain is around 400, with the remainder including both rebels and a large number of civilians slain in Ukrainian attacks on rebel-held cities. Roughly one million civilians have fled the fighting, most of them to Russia.
