DONETSK. June 26 (Interfax) - About a thousand militiamen and civilians have been killed in the Donetsk region since the Ukrainian military operation began, said Andrei Purgin, the deputy prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic.
"Already we can talk cumulatively about a thousand of people killed in Donbas," Purgin told journalists on Thursday while distributing material aid to the relatives of those killed.
He said many were buried in Slovyansk as there was no possibility to remove the bodies from there.
"The militia made the decision to bury the bodies in Slovyansk to avoid getting more while removing them as the National Guards were firing at their vehicles," Purgin said.
Also, "at this moment there are about 35 bodies under the debris of the Donetsk airport," he said. "In all, 102 people were killed at the Donetsk airport, according to official figures," Purgin said.