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Developments in eastern Ukraine

Donetsk republic official denies defence chief Strelkov badly wounded

The Donetsk-based news agency Novorossiya said earlier in the day that “Igor Strelkov is badly wounded. He is in grave condition.”

Igor Strelkov ITAR-TASS

Igor Strelkov

KIEV, August 13, /ITAR-TASS/. Media reports claiming that the defence minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DNR), Igor Strelkov, has been badly wounded and is in serious condition are wrong, DNR Security Council member Sergei Kavtaradze said on Wednesday.

“This is complete nonsense, a new round of information warfare,” he said, adding that these media reports were standard disinformation. “Igor Strelkov is alive and well. Those who spread this information in mass media pursued their own goals of course and sought to demoralise militiamen ahead of the crucial battles. You can judge for yourself who can benefit from that,” Kavtaradze said.

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Donetsk militia commander Strelkov badly wounded — agency

The Donetsk-based news agency Novorossiya said earlier in the day that “Igor Strelkov is badly wounded. We were told so by a source in the Novorossiya [common reference to the Donetsk and Lugansk self-proclaimed republics] leadership. He is in grave condition.”

DNR Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Purgin could not confirm or deny this information. He told ITAR-TASS that Strelkov had been in the area of intensive fighting lately.

“I have no precise information, but this is likely to be true. As far as I know, he was not in Donetsk but in the area of Shakhtersk, Torez and Snezhnoye where intensive fighting is going on,” Purgin told ITAR-TASS by telephone.

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Eastern Ukraine

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