Russian rebel says 30-35 separatists dead in fighting in east Ukraine

Russian rebel says 30-35 separatists dead in fighting in east Ukraine

DONETSK, Ukraine - A pro-Russian rebel said on Tuesday he believed about 30 to 35 separatists had been killed so far in nearly 24 hours of fighting with Ukrainian forces in Ukraine's eastern city of Donetsk.

The rebel, who was in his 30s and gave no name, spoke to Reuters as he and about a dozen comrades drove off from a morgue near the centre of Donetsk, where the separatists have been battling Ukrainian forces after seizing the city's international airport on Monday.

It was the first indication of a death toll on either side in the latest bout of violence, which erupted a day after Ukrainians voted for a new president in an election which the separatists managed to block in much of the Donetsk region.

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