Soldiers killed in eastern Ukraine

KYIV – Six Ukrainian soldiers were killed on April 5 in the east of the country in two separate incidents as the conflict in eastern Ukraine entered its second year. The Internal Affairs Ministry said a military vehicle was hit as it drove across a bridge in Schastia, a government-held town about 170 kilometers northeast of the city of separatist-held Donetsk. The ministry accused Russian-backed separatists of firing the shell, but that report could not be independently confirmed. It said initial reports showed “militants had fired a laser-guided antitank missile.” Ukraine’s anti-terrorism center has identified all four of the servicemen, adding that they came from the Kharkiv region. The information center for the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic denied reports its forces were involved. The pro-Russian separatists claimed the Ukrainian military vehicle hit a landmine placed on the bridge by Ukrainian forces. In a separate incident less than an hour later, a Ukrainian military vehicle hit a landmine near the town of Shyrokyne, east of the city of Mariupol, killing two servicemen and wounding one other. The previous day, the government reported the deaths of another three soldiers when a mine exploded near the town of Avdiyivka, a government-held town north of Donetsk. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by Reuters, Agence France-Presse and Interfax)