Ukrainian troops have engaged in gun-battles with a pro-Russia militia occupying >an eastern city an apparent escalation of a security sweep to bring the region back under government control.
Gunfire and multiple explosions could be heard Monday in Slovyansk, a city of 125,000 people that has become the focus of the armed anti-government insurgency.
A spokesman with the pro-Russia militia in Sloviansk said people were being killed and wounded in the fighting, but offered no specific figures.
An AP crew saw at least four ambulances rushing injured people to a city hospital. Hospital officials reported the death of one girl, but gave no details.
The Interfax news agency cited Interior Minister Arsen Avakov as saying that pro-Russia forces were deploying large-calibre weapons and mortars.
Meanwhile, pro-Russian activists in the Black Sea port city of Odessa have >vowed to take city buildings after attending the funeral of a politician who died in a fire that killed over 40 people last week.
Regional parliament member Vyacheslav Markin, who was known for speaking out against the government in Kiev, was buried on Monday while about 300 pro-Russian supporters shouted “Hero, hero!” Markin died on Sunday from burn wounds sustained in Friday’s fire.
Many of those at the funeral wore the St. George black-and-orange ribbon that has become a ubiquitous symbol of the pro-Russian protest movement in Ukraine and said they were planning to storm the regional government building in Odessa later that afternoon.
Pro-Russian militants have seized administrative buildings and police stations across much of southern and eastern Ukraine.
