Over 30 pro-Russian militants were
killed and dozens more were injured Monday in heavy clashes with
Ukraine forces in the east of the country, Ukrainian Interior
Minister Arsen Avakov said on Tuesday.
The rebels had earlier reported a dozen dead and between 20
and 25 wounded in the fighting just outside the separatist
stronghold of Sloviansk.
The victims included numerous fighters from the eastern
Crimea region, which seceded from Ukraine and was subsequently
annexed by Russia in March, as well as Russians and citizens of
the Chechen Republic, Avakov said.
The minister also confirmed that four Ukraine soldiers died
and a further 20 were wounded in Monday's clashes.
Meanwhile French President Francois Hollande warned of
"chaos and the risk of civil war" in Ukraine if presidential
elections do not go ahead as planned on May 25.
On that day Ukrainians are due to elect a replacement for
Russian-backed Viktor Yanukovych, who was toppled in February
following months of increasingly violent protests over his
decision to spurn the European Union in favour of closer ties
with Russia.
The problem, said Hollande, is to "ensure that the
president who wins the elections is legitimate in everyone's
eyes".
This, he added, is something that "(President) Vladimir
Putin and the Russians don't want".
Putin "needs to come under pressure from the whole of
Europe", Hollande concluded.
On Tuesday Ukraine media reported that 48 people were still
unaccounted for following the May 2 clashes between pro-Russian
activists and government supporters in the eastern city of
Odessa.
The clashes culminated in a fire in a trade union building
in which dozens of people died.
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