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Ukraine Says Army Repelled Overnight Attack on Base

Masked pro-Russia protesters stand guard near a barricade outside a regional government building in Donetsk, in eastern Ukraine.

KIEV, Ukraine — The Ukrainian government said troops repelled an overnight raid on a base at Artemivsk, between Donetsk and Slaviansk, in eastern Ukraine on Thursday.

A soldier was wounded in the attack by about 70 people who Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said on Facebook were led by Russian soldiers. Casualty details for the attackers were not clear, he said.

Avakov also said that pro-Russian protesters had left the town hall in Mariupol, an industrial city on the Black Sea coast.

According to a statement published on the Internal Ministry website, about 30 citizens, some of whom were armed with bats, entered Mariupol City Hall in the early hours of Thursday morning and demanded the occupiers release the building, Interfax reported.

In the subsequent clashes, five people were injured and were in need of medical treatment, while police were called to help restore the public order, the statement said.

The hall had been occupied since April 13.

Material from The Moscow Times was included in this report.

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