International Military Drills in Ukraine: 2,000 soldiers from 18 countries participate in exercises (VIDEO)

Russian-backed militants and Ukrainian troops fight for control of region

Rockets are continuing to fly across the line of contact between Ukrainian troops and Russian-backed militants in east Ukraine's Donbas region. In the small town of Granitne, near the militant stronghold of the city of Donetsk, Ukrainian troops say they see no signs of the shelling coming to a stop.

Our correspondent at the scene said: "Here are the positions of the seventy-second brigade. No words are needed to explain. They are always at gunpoint. The boys know well that on the other side the amount of equipment is growing but those willing to fight is becoming less."

https://youtu.be/0-zoxfIBsmM

One of the Ukrainian fighters says that they can tell the militants have accumulated large swaths of equipment on their side. "We always see equipment, that they're amassing, but we can't do anything in return."

A shell from an anti-tank rocket launcher landed close to the Ukrainian camp, our correspondent said it was a nearly fatal shot. "This was shot from the militant positions; it wasn't well aimed, and was probably launched from a rocket launcher."

At the Putuliv mine near the town of Avdiivka Ukrainian soldiers say they're under constant fire from the insurgents who've been shelling them from three different sides.

"This is the Putilov's mine, a very important Ukrainian stronghold in the outskirts of Donetsk. The mine is something incredible. Look! Seems it's quite possible to use it as a backdrop for Hollywood horror movies. But it's not a fiction and everyday reality comes here with howitzers' shells. It's hard to get used to shelling from pro-Russian militants positions but Ukrainian soldiers do their best to hold the line against all odds. They realize they control the back door to industrial hub of Avdiivka, over there".

The militants' aim, Ukrainian soldiers say, is to complete a similar offensive to the one on Donetsk Airport, which was captured by the militants after months of resistance by the Ukrainian side.

One soldier said: "They (the militants) used to shout at us ‘Ukrainians you are freaks' but now they yell that we are very tenacious. We Ukrainians are not easily defeated I can tell you that."

More than 6,400 people have been killed in fighting in eastern Ukraine which began in April 2014 when Russian-backed militants took control of administration buildings in major cities in the Donbas.

Russia-backed separatists sit atop an APC with a flag of the self-proclaimed Federal State of Novorossiya at the site of the crashed Malaysia Airlines plane, near the village of Hrabove, eastern Ukraine, July 16, 2015 (AP Photo)

 

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