Rebels hit Ukraine checkpoint, kill 16

Ukrainian soldiers sit on top of an APC leaving the site of a Ukrainian check point that came under attack by pro-Russians near the village of Blahodatne, eastern Ukraine, on Thursday, May 22, 2014. Several Ukrainian troops were killed and many others were wounded when Pro-Russians attacked a military checkpoint, the deadliest raid in the weeks of fighting in eastern Ukraine. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
Ukrainian soldiers sit on top of an APC leaving the site of a Ukrainian check point that came under attack by pro-Russians near the village of Blahodatne, eastern Ukraine, on Thursday, May 22, 2014. Several Ukrainian troops were killed and many others were wounded when Pro-Russians attacked a military checkpoint, the deadliest raid in the weeks of fighting in eastern Ukraine. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

BLAHODATNE, Ukraine -- In the deadliest raid yet on Ukrainian troops, pro-Russia insurgents attacked a military checkpoint Thursday, killing 16 soldiers, and the interim prime minister accused Moscow of trying to disrupt the forthcoming election for a new president.

A rebel commander said one of his fighters also died in the raid in eastern Ukraine, which left charred military vehicles and scorched bodies near the town of Volnovakha, 20 miles south of the city of Donetsk.

Witnesses, including a medical worker, said more than 30 Ukrainian troops were wounded, with some in grave condition. Fighting also raged in at least two other villages.

The armed uprising and the government's offensive to put it down have cast a shadow over Sunday's election, with Kiev acknowledging it will be impossible to hold the vote in some areas. In the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, where separatists have declared independence and pledged to derail the vote, election workers reported threats and interference from gunmen.

Interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk accused Russia of escalating the conflict and trying to disrupt the election. In a post on Facebook, he called for an urgent session of the United Nations Security Council and said Ukraine would present evidence of Moscow's involvement in the turmoil.

In the attack on the checkpoint, residents said the rebels arrived in an armored bank truck, which the Ukrainian soldiers waved through. The rebels then opened fire with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, acting President Oleksandr Turchynov said.

The Donetsk regional administration and a Health Ministry official said 16 soldiers were killed.

Ukraine's Defense Ministry said the attackers hit an ammunition section in one of the military's vehicles, which exploded.

A leading rebel commander claimed responsibility for the raid. In the courtyard of the occupied police headquarters of the town of Horlivka, he displayed seized Ukrainian weapons and the passports of what he said were two of the dead soldiers. He also provided coordinates about the location of the attack shortly after it had occurred. There was no way to confirm his claim independently.

"We destroyed a checkpoint of the fascist Ukrainian army deployed on the land of the Donetsk Republic," said the commander, who wore a mask and insisted he be identified by his nom de guerre, "Bes" -- Russian for "demon." He said one of his men also was killed.

Pavel Gubarev, a representative of the separatist Donetsk People's Republic, denied its men had carried out the attack, however. Gubarev appeared on Russian TV and accused Ukrainian nationalists from the group Right Sector of firing on Ukrainian soldiers because they had refused to attack civilians.

Many in the rebellious regions have grown increasingly exasperated with the insurgents, whom they blame for putting civilians in the crossfire.

In the village of Semenovka on the outskirts of Slovyansk, shelling badly damaged several houses. Zinaida Patskan had her roof torn away by an explosion that also shattered a wall. She said she hid under a kitchen table with her cat, Timofey, in the shelling.

"Why they are hitting us?" the 80-year-old said, bursting into tears. "We are peaceful people!"

About 100 Semenovka residents, however, later vented their anger against the central government, demanding Ukrainian forces end the offensive and withdraw. Speakers at a rally also urged a boycott of the presidential vote.

In the Luhansk region, sustained gunfire and mortar fire rocked the town of Lysychansk. One shell hit a house, which burst into flames. A police officer at the town hospital said one fighter had died and five were wounded.

In the evening, a convoy of at least 200 Ukrainian soldiers was seen traveling to Slovyansk from the north. The soldiers were in two armored vehicles and eight military trucks, one of the larger concentrations seen in recent weeks.

While the fighting raged, Russia's Defense Ministry said its forces were leaving the regions near Ukraine as part of a military pullout ordered by President Vladimir Putin. It said four trainloads of weapons and 15 Il-76 heavy-lift transport planes had already left the Belgorod, Bryansk and Rostov regions.

NATO had estimated Russia had 40,000 troops along the border.

Gen. Philip Breedlove, NATO's supreme commander in Europe, said in Brussels that some Russian military movements had been detected, but it was too early to assess their size or importance. He said a very large and capable Russian force still remained close to Ukraine.

In Kiev, Yatsenyuk described Russia's announcement as a bluff.

"Even if the troops are withdrawing, Russian authorities are still assisting the armed terrorists who were trained in Russia," he said.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich rejected Yatsenyuk's claims of Russian interference as unfounded and denounced his call for a U.N. meeting as "propaganda."

Information for this article was contributed by Dmitry Kozlov, Nataliya Vasilyeva, Vladimir Isachenkov, Predrag Milic, John-Thor Dahlburg and Lolita Baldor of The Associated Press.

A Section on 05/23/2014

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