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Woman, child killed in eastern Ukraine’s Sloviansk — Ukraine’s children’s ombudsman

A child and his mother have died in the embattled city of Sloviansk in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk Region amid an ongoing military operation in the region

KIEV, June 20. /ITAR-TASS/. A child and his mother have died in the embattled city of Sloviansk in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk Region, the Ukrainian presidential children’s rights ombudsman Yury Pavlenko said Friday.

The Ukrainian military and militias have been engaged in fierce clashes with each other in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which refused to recognize the authorities that had been propelled to power amid riots during a coup in Ukraine in February 2014.

A Kiev-led military operation against federalization supporters in Ukraine's East involves armored vehicles, heavy artillery and attack aviation. It has already claimed hundreds of lives, including civilian, left some buildings destroyed and damaged, and forced tens of thousands of people to leave Ukraine for Russia.

The Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which border Russia, held referendums on May 11, in which most voters supported independence from Ukraine. Their independence has not been officially recognized.

Russia has repeatedly called on Kiev to end the military operation and engage in dialogue with Ukraine’s south-east. The operation continued under newly elected President Petro Poroshenko, who won the May 25 early presidential elections and took office on June 7.

Poroshenko on Friday gave an order to stop combat operations in Ukraine’s east. The ceasefire will last from 10pm local time until 10am local time on June 27. A relevant order from the Ukrainian head of state has been posted on the presidential website.

“In case an armed attack is made on Ukrainian units or civilians, the military will open return fire,” the statement says.

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Ukraine crisis Ukraine Eastern Ukraine

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