KIEV, May 15 (RIA Novosti) – One pro-federalization activist was killed and four others wounded in a gunfight near the Ukrainian city Kramatorsk, in the north of the Donetsk region, a Ukrainian TSN news website reports.
“One was killed, four severely injured. [They] were admitted to the Slaviansk City Hospital No 1,” the website announced Thursday.
Last Sunday, Ukraine’s Western-backed interim government announced its “anti-terror” operation in Kramatorsk, Slaviansk, and Krasny Liman had entered the final phase. The chief of the Turchinov administration said Ukrainian troops had “wiped out a lot of separatists," but didn’t cite any figures.
The announcement came as the region of Donetsk went to polls in a bid for greater autonomy, after it refused to recognize the legitimacy of the coup-imposed regime in Kiev.
Following a regime change in late February, the citizens of the predominantly Russian-speaking southeastern regions of Ukraine refused to recognize the country’s interim authorities and called for federalization and self-rule referendums, with rallies sweeping through the region.
Acting Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov ordered the launch of a special operation last month to crack down on pro-federalization protests that have been spreading across southeastern Ukraine since a regime change in Kiev in February.
