Itar-Tass
June 2, 2014
Health minister of self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic dies in air strike
LUHANSK: A public health minister of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic, Natalya Arkhipova, died in the air strike which a Ukrainian fighter jet had delivered on the Luhansk regional administration building earlier on Monday, the press service of the Luhansk People’s Republic told ITAR-TASS.
“I confirm the death of Natalya Arkhipova. As far as I know five people, all of them civilians, are dead. At least 10 people are wounded. Many of them are in serious condition,” the press service went on to say.
The regional administration building is now sealed off.
A Ukrainian fighter aircraft that delivered the air strike could have used cluster bombs. The strike caused a fire on the building’s fourth floor and damaged its front facade to the left from the main entrance.
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Itar-Tass
June 2, 2014
Administration building in Luhansk caught by fire after air strike, five dead, ten injured
LUHANSK:. The fourth floor of the Luhansk regional administration building was caught on fire after an air strike carried out by a Ukrainian fighter jet. A huge number of ambulances and fire crews have arrived at the scene to extinguish the fire and evacuate the injured.
According to reports, five people were killed and at least 10 were injured in the attack.
The administration building is surrounded by people in military uniforms who are asking the crowd to disperse.
“The fighter jet used cluster bombs to deliver a pinpoint strike. The regional administration building is partly destroyed. There are dead and injured. Doctors and rescuers working at the scene are clarifying the number of casualties,” the reports say.
The leadership of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic has asked civilians to leave the areas close to the regional administration building because unexploded bombs left after the air strike could still be lying in the nearby park.
Meanwhile, a Luhansk city administration source told ITAR-TASS that an acoustic bomb had also been dropped on the regional administration building.
The bomb partly damaged the building’s facade to the left from the main entrance. A spokesperson for the press center of the Luhansk People’s Republic told ITAR-TASS that five civilians had died in the air strike.
“We are expecting another air strike soon,” the spokesperson went on to say.
Militia fighters in the Luhanskaya settlement blew up a bridge for security purposes. “There are three bridges there: a railway bridge, an automobile bridge and a new automobile bridge. The militiamen destroyed the old automobile bridge,” the spokesperson said.
In the meantime, Ukraine’s assault aviation has delivered air strikes at a militia checkpoint in Luhanskaya settlement. “There are casualties,” the website of the Luhansk People’s Republic says.
Supporters of Ukraine’s federalization seized the Luhansk regional state administration building late in April.
Meanwhile, clashes between militia fighters and the servicemen of the Luhansk border post have been under way for more than ten hours.
Nikolai Malomuzh, the former head of Ukraine’s foreign intelligence service, told a news conference that reinforcement had been sent to the Luhansk border post.
“As far as I know, reinforcement has just been sent to the Luhansk border guards with a great delay,” Malomuzh, who is heading the Officers’ Coordination Council, said, adding that up to 500 armed men are attacking the border post. Seven Ukrainian border guards are injured. Three are in grave condition.
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Itar-Tass
June 2, 2014
Ukrainian army shells Semyonovka village near Slavyansk leaving it without electricity
SLAVYANSK: The village of Semyonovka in the outskirts of Slavyansk, the Donetsk region, remains without light after a massive artillery attack by Ukrainian army, a local militia spokesman told Itar-Tass on Monday.
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