Rebels in Eastern Ukraine Vow to Drive Army From Donetsk

DONETSK, Ukraine — A main leader of the Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine said on Friday that his soldiers were “on the offensive” in several sectors, building on their success in capturing a long-contested airport the day before.

“We will attack” until the Ukrainian Army is driven from the borders of the Donetsk region, Aleksandr Zakharchenko, the leader of the Donetsk People’s Republic rebel group, said in comments carried by Russian news agencies. Referring to the Ukrainian government, he said, “Kiev doesn’t understand now that we can attack in three directions simultaneously.”

“If the enemy does not want to abide by the cease-fire, if the enemy doesn’t want to stop the suffering of innocent people in Ukrainian villages and towns,” Mr. Poroshenko said in a statement on his website, “we will give it to them in the teeth.”

The slow grind of combat that began in April has now killed at least 5,086 soldiers and civilians in eastern Ukraine, the United Nations reported on Friday. The world body bases its estimate on official morgue and hospital reports, and analysts believe that it understates the total death toll. The report said that 262 of the deaths occurred in the past nine days, making that period the deadliest since the September cease-fire.

The New York Times