Poroshenko: 7,000 civilians killed

KYIV – Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says that nearly 7,000 civilians have been killed in the yearlong war in eastern Ukraine between government forces and Russian-backed separatists. In an address to the Verkhovna Rada on May 8 he said that more than 1,000 people remained unaccounted for. The figures mark a significant increase from the most recent U.N. tally of around 6,100 people killed. Mr. Poroshenko said some 1,657 Ukrainian troops had also been killed in combat, which he described as aggression from Russia. Moscow denies supplying separatist rebels with equipment or manpower, but it has been open in its diplomatic support for the separatists. Poroshenko said Russian involvement in the war had forced Ukraine to seek further alignment with the West. Poroshenko has called for UN peacekeepers to be deployed in eastern Ukraine, an idea rejected by Moscow. (RFE/RL, with reporting by the Associated Press)