Seven Ukrainian Soldiers Killed in Pro-Russia Rebel Attack

Seven Ukrainian soldiers were killed Monday when separatist rebels' tank fire struck their armoured personal vehicle near the Donetsk airport in eastern Ukraine, a military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said.

Lysenko said that the rebels were attempting to storm the Donetsk international airport, which was under the control of the government.

"During the evening attack, the Ukrainian armoured transporter, with its crew and a paratroop unit, took a direct hit from a tank," Lysenko said.

"Intensive fighting broke out. Our paratroopers sustained losses," he said, reports BBC.

In a separate incident, three civilians were killed and five injured in shelling on Sunday night.

Lysenko said that altogether nine Ukrainian soldiers were killed and 27 injured in the past 24 hours.

Expressing confidence that the Ukrainian military would hold onto the Donetsk airport, Lysenko said that the tank which had shelled the armoured personnel carrier was destroyed, reports Reuters.

A part of the Donetsk airport was modernized to host the European football finals two years ago. The airport has great strategic value as it can accommodate huge military transporters.

Last week, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that the "most dangerous" part of Ukraine's conflict in the east was over. He had also said that the peace deal with the separatists would work.

Meanwhile, in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, nationalists pulled down a huge statue of Vladimir Lenin on Sunday. People all over Ukraine have pulled down statues of Lenin demonstrating their anti-Russian feeling.

The Kharkiv administration supported the move. Arsen Avakov, Ukraine's Minister of Internal Affairs and a Kharkiv native, wrote on his Facebook page: "Lenin? Let him fall... As long as nobody gets hurt," reports the Associated Press.