7 Injured, 2 Missing After Attacks On Ukrainian Ships

At least seven Ukrainian border guards were injured and two others went missing following attacks on two Ukrainian border patrol vessels in the Sea of Azov Sunday, authorities said Monday.

According to Oleg Slobodyan, spokesman of the State Border Service, following the attacks, the border guards were taken to local hospitals. Six soldiers were in stable condition while one officer was seriously wounded.

On Sunday, the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) said that two Ukrainian naval vessels, patrolling the shore of the Azov Sea near the restive Mariupol town in the east, were attacked from the shore with an artillery fire.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack and how many crew members were onboard.

Local media suggested that independence-seeking insurgents, engaged in violent confrontation with government troops in eastern Ukraine, were responsible for the incident, but there was no official confirmation of such reports yet.

Over the past 24 hours, seven Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and 25 others wounded during the clashes with rebels, according to Andrei Lysenko, the spokesman of the NSDC.

During a media briefing here, Lysenko has also claimed success of Ukraine' s military operation in the east in the past day, saying that government troops ended a rebel blockade of Lugansk airport. (Cihan/Xinhua)