At least 11 Ukrainian soldiers were killed in an overnight attack by pro-Russian separatists in the restive eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, media reports say.
Nine members of Ukrainian security forces were reportedly killed and 17 were injured when gunmen armed with automatic rifles and anti-tank weapons attacked an armored vehicle near a military checkpoint in the Volnovakha area of Donetsk.
Ukrainian Defense Ministry said the attack was carried out by heavily armed "terrorists."
In another attack, separatists hit a convoy of vehicles in Rubizhne, in the neighboring Luhansk region, killing one Ukrainian soldier.
National Security and Defense Council Secretary Andriy Parubiy told reporters that he could not confirm the number of troop casualties.
In a separate development, Valeriy Bolotov, the head of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic, declared martial law in the region on Thursday.
In the wake of the deadliest attack on Ukrainian soldiers, the country's interim Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk has called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.
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Political News
June 19, 2026 16:46 ET Major central banks continued to dominate the economic news flow this week too, led by the Federal Reserve, as they announced their latest policy decisions. The Federal Reserve policy session was in focus as it was the first to be led by the new chief Kevin Warsh. In Europe, central banks of the U.K. and Switzerland announced their rate decisions. In Asia, the Bank of Japan drew attention for its policy moves, while data out of China threw some light on the state of the economy.