[An Nahar] A Ukrainian police officer was killed and two others injured Friday when snuffies near the separatist stronghold of Slavyansk launched a mortar attack on a checkpoint, officials said.The krazed killers, who had taken up position in a church, opened fire on Ukrainian forces, deputy interior minister Serhiy Yarovy said in a statement.
"One police officer was killed, while two seriously injured have been hospitalized," he said.
Ukrainian forces have been carrying out a military operation in the east of the country since April 13 to quell a pro-Russian rebellion.
Some 200 people have died in the ensuing violence, including Ukrainian soldiers, snuffies and civilians.
The head of the regional administration of Donetsk, Kiev-appointed Serhiy Taruta, said on Friday that the "anti-terrorist" operation had not achieved its objective.
He said that the Ukrainian military is now facing professional fighters who have arrived from Chechnya, a republic in Russian Caucasus, and South Ossetia, a separatist pro-Russian republic in Georgia.
But Taruta cautioned against trying to bring about peace in east Ukraine's Donbas region with a blunt military campaign.
"Every new death is a tragedy for Donbas and creates ten new terrorists," he said.