Ukraine Forces Repel Two Fresh Assaults on Donetsk's Airport

Airport Has Become Center of Battles in Recent Days Despite Sept. 5 Truce

By Nick Shchetko, WSJ
Updated Sept. 30, 2014

KIEV, Ukraine—Ukrainian forces repelled two fresh assaults by pro-Russia rebels on the airport in the eastern city of Donetsk on Tuesday, a military spokesman said, as fighting for the strategic site showed no sign of ending despite a cease-fire signed nearly a month ago.

European Union diplomats, meanwhile, decided to keep sanctions on Russia in place while the truce deal is still being implemented.

The spokesman, Col. Andriy Lysenko, said the army had fought off the attacks with no casualties. A rebel representative told Interfax news agency that they had managed to take some of the airport's territory.

The airport—the last part of the rebel stronghold of Donetsk held by government forces—has become the center of battles in recent days. Despite the violence there and elsewhere, officials in Kiev and Moscow have said the cease-fire signed Sept. 5 is mostly holding.

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