Fighting broke out Friday around a rebel-held city in eastern Ukraine, as Ukrainian forces carried out an attack against pro-Russian separatists.
Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov says the rebels shot down at least one Ukrainian helicopter during the assault on the city of Slaviansk, killing a pilot.
Avakov said on his Facebook page that Ukraine demands the rebels free their hostages, lay down their weapons, vacate the buildings they have seized and restore the municipal infrastructure.
The attack comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded that Ukraine withdraw all military personnel from the troubled region near the Russian border. Mr. Putin made the demand in a phone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who meets with U.S. President Barack Obama Friday in Washington.
On Thursday, Ukraine's interim President Oleksandr Turchynov signed a military conscription decree to deal with increasingly violent pro-Russian separatists who have seized buildings in about a dozen cities in Ukraine's Russian-speaking east.
The Ukrainian conscription decree targets 18-25-year-olds.
Earlier this week, the Ukrainian leader said his government was "helpless" to quell the growing pro-Russian separatist movement in two eastern regions.
Mr. Turchynov also conceded that his government had lost control of its own troops in southeastern Ukraine.
Protesters control a number of key buildings in Donetsk and have declared a May 11 referendum on whether to secede from Ukraine and join Russia.
A similar vote last month led to Russia's annexation of the Crimean peninsula.
Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov says the rebels shot down at least one Ukrainian helicopter during the assault on the city of Slaviansk, killing a pilot.
Avakov said on his Facebook page that Ukraine demands the rebels free their hostages, lay down their weapons, vacate the buildings they have seized and restore the municipal infrastructure.
The attack comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded that Ukraine withdraw all military personnel from the troubled region near the Russian border. Mr. Putin made the demand in a phone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who meets with U.S. President Barack Obama Friday in Washington.
On Thursday, Ukraine's interim President Oleksandr Turchynov signed a military conscription decree to deal with increasingly violent pro-Russian separatists who have seized buildings in about a dozen cities in Ukraine's Russian-speaking east.
The Ukrainian conscription decree targets 18-25-year-olds.
Earlier this week, the Ukrainian leader said his government was "helpless" to quell the growing pro-Russian separatist movement in two eastern regions.
Mr. Turchynov also conceded that his government had lost control of its own troops in southeastern Ukraine.
Protesters control a number of key buildings in Donetsk and have declared a May 11 referendum on whether to secede from Ukraine and join Russia.
A similar vote last month led to Russia's annexation of the Crimean peninsula.