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| Ukraine crisis: Separatists deny fleeing Sloviansk base | Ukraine crisis: Separatists deny fleeing Sloviansk base |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine have denied reports they have fled the rebel stronghold of Sloviansk. | Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine have denied reports they have fled the rebel stronghold of Sloviansk. |
| Ukraine's interior minister said a large number of rebels had left but admitted other fighters remained. | |
| Ukrainian forces launched an offensive against the separatists this week after a 10-day ceasefire broke down. | Ukrainian forces launched an offensive against the separatists this week after a 10-day ceasefire broke down. |
| Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said he is ready to return to a ceasefire but there has been no confirmation of any new talks. | Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said he is ready to return to a ceasefire but there has been no confirmation of any new talks. |
| Convoy | |
| Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said on Facebook that a large number of insurgents had left Sloviansk but that other fighters were still in the town and that it had not been taken by government forces. | |
| Mr Avakov said "some intelligence suggests" that the military commander of the self-declared Donetsk Peoples' Republic (DPR), Igor Strelkov, was among those leaving, but this has not been confirmed. | |
| And a spokesman for the DPR denied the separatists had left the town. | |
| Ukrainian military spokesperson Alexei Dmitroshkovskiy also told the BBC the town was still in rebel hands. | |
| The Ukrainian news website Censor.net reported that Ukrainian forces had come across a convoy trying to break the siege of Sloviansk, heading towards the town of Kramatorsk. | |
| Artillery was fired and the convoy broke up, it said. | Artillery was fired and the convoy broke up, it said. |
| The Ukrainian Ostrov website quoted hostages who said they had managed to free themselves from detention in Sloviansk's main police station. They also reported that separatists had left towards Kramatorsk. | The Ukrainian Ostrov website quoted hostages who said they had managed to free themselves from detention in Sloviansk's main police station. They also reported that separatists had left towards Kramatorsk. |
| In a separate development, Russian news agency Interfax reported that Ukrainian forces had destroyed the headquarters of the DPR in the town of Artemivsk. | |