'The war HAS started': Pro-Russian militants storm checkpoint and kill 14 Ukrainian soldiers in deadliest clash yet

• More than 30 Ukrainian soldiers also wounded, some gravely, witnesses said
• Separatist militant group in Horlivka claim responsibility for the attack
• Comes as Ukrainian army shelling destroys more homes near Slavyansk
• Kremlin announces that troop withdrawal from border regions underway
• British RT journalist is freed after days held captive by pro-Kiev forces
  

By Damien Gayle and Agencies

Published: 06:47 EST, 22 May 2014 | Updated: 01:24 EST, 23 May 2014

At least 14 Ukrainian soldiers were killed and dozens more were wounded when rebels stormed their checkpoint in east Ukraine today.

It is the deadliest clash yet in the conflict in Ukraine and saw three armoured vehicles destroyed and a series of other lorries and vans burned out.

They produced an array of weapons they said they had seized from the soldiers, in what is the deadliest raid in weeks of fighting in the region.

But a Ukrainian commander said shortly after the attack: 'The war has started.'

The destruction of armoured vehicles shows that the rebels have access to heavy weaponry and are not lightly-armed freelance operators. It is likely to raise fears that they have been armed by Moscow.

WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT

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Two destroyed Ukrainian armoured personnel carriers and an army lorry show the aftermath of the bloodiest attack yet in the Ukrainian conflict. Fourteen soldiers died and dozens more were wounded in the ambush by pro-Kremlin forces who attacked a Ukrainian mobile military checkpoint today

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A Ukrainian soldier stands near destroyed truck at the site of an attack by pro-Russian insurgents near the village of Blahodatne today. At least 11 Ukrainian troops were killed and about 30 others were wounded in the deadliest clash yet in the country. Three Ukrainian armored infantry vehicles were destroyed and several other vehicles were burned out in the gun battle which followed an ambush by pro-Russian insurgents

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Armed: A separatist shows off the array of weapons his group it seized

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Pro-Russian militants storm checkpoint and kill at least 11

'We destroyed a checkpoint of the fascist Ukrainian army deployed on the land of the Donetsk Republic,' said the commander, who wore a balaclava and identified himself by his nom de guerre, 'Bes' - Russian for 'demon.'

'The weapons you see here have been taken from the dead, they are trophies,' he said.

He showed several dozen items, including automatic and sniper rifles, rocket grenade launchers and bulletproof vests. The booty was carefully laid out in the courtyard of the Horlivka city police headquarters which is occupied by the rebels.

'People living in western Ukraine: Think about where you are sending your brothers, fathers and sons, and why you need any of this,' the commander said.

The claims could not be independently verified.

Associated Press reporters who arrived after the attack saw 11 bodies scattered around the checkpoint near the village of Blahodatne, near the town of Volnovakha, Donetsk.

More than 30 soldiers loyal to Kiev were wounded, some gravely, when the insurgents stormed the checkpoint, witnesses said.

Officials in Ukraine later raised the death toll to 14.

Three charred Ukrainian armoured infantry vehicles, their turrets blown away by powerful explosions, and several burned trucks stood at the scene of the battle.

Officials arrived at the battlefield in a military helicopter and inspected the area. Ukraine's defence ministry confirmed the attack but would not comment on casualties.

Scores have been killed since the Kiev government launched an 'anti-terrorist operation' against insurgents, who have seized government buildings and declared their regions independent.

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Pro-Russian militants guard a checkpoint in Semyonovka village, outside Slavyansk, Ukraine

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Militants stand near houses in Semyonovka which have been damaged by Ukrainian army shelling

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Zinaida Patskan, 80, stands in her house after shelling from Ukrainian government forces in Semyonovka

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The roof of her home was torn and an exterior wall demolished by the shells from troops loyal to Kiev

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Mrs Patskan his under a table with her pet cat Timofey, pictured, as the shells rained down on her home

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'Why they are hitting us?' she said to an AP reporter while bursting into tears. 'We are peaceful people!'

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The people of Semyonovka gather together to protest against the shelling from Ukrainian soldiers

Today's battle will cast a shadow over Ukraine's presidential vote this Sunday, which insurgents have vowed to derail.

The authorities in Kiev see the vote as a chance to defuse tensions and stabilise the country. But they admitted that it will be impossible to stage the vote in some areas in the east. They say election officials and voters have faced intimidation and threats from the rebels.

Many in the Russian-speaking east resent the government in Kiev, which seized power in February after mass protests toppled Ukraine's pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych.

Eastern Ukrainians see the new regime as 'fascists' bent on oppressing Russian speakers and targeting ethnic Russians. But they are also said to be growing increasingly exasperated with the rebels after finding themselves in the crossfire of battles with the Ukrainian army.

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Pro-Russian fighters pose for a photo in front of a burning cafe after impact of a mortar bomb, during fighting between Ukrainian government troops and militants in Slavyansk

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A pro-Russian fighter takes a photo of the burning cafe on his mobile phone

In the village of Semenovka, on the outskirts of Slavyansk, artillery shelling that appeared to come from government positions badly damaged several houses today.

Zinaida Patskan, 80, had the roof of her house torn by an explosion, which also shattered one of the walls. 'Why they are hitting us?' she said, bursting into tears. 'We are peaceful people!'

Mrs Patskan, who wasn't hurt, said she was hiding under a kitchen table with her cat, Timofey, when the shelling came.

About a hundred Semenovka residents later vented their anger against the central government, demanding that the Ukrainian forces cease their offensive and withdraw from the region.

Speakers at the rally also called for boycotting the presidential vote.

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A member of the U.S. Army 173rd Airborne Brigade a practices during a military exercise 'Black Arrow 2014' at the Rukla military base in Lithuania. The exercise has been criticised by pro-Kremlin commentators as an attempt to raise tensions between the west and Moscow - but Lithuania and other Baltic stats say they now depend on Nato for their own security some 120 kms (75 miles) west of the capital Vilnius, Lithuania, Thursday, May 22, 2014. Approximately 1,500 military members from the Lithuanian Armed Forces will be training defensive operation in Lithuanian territory along with members of the 173rd Airborne Brigade of the U.S. Army in Europe (USAREUR). (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)

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American paratroopers take part in 'Black Arrow 2014' in Lithuania. The Nato exercises, which include local troops, units from other Nato members and the Americans have inflamed tensions with Moscow and come amid mounting fears that Ukraine will explode into full-scale civil war

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A parachute jump in action during 'Black Arrow 2014', a Nato exercise in Lithuania which includes United States airborne troops

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President Vladimir Putin's order to withdraw Russian forces massed along the border with Ukraine was today being carried out, according to the Russian defence ministry. Nato said it had seen no signs of movement

As fighting raged in Ukraine, Russia's Defence Ministry said today that its forces were leaving border regions as part of a military pullout ordered by President Vladimir Putin.

It said that four trainloads of weapons and 15 Il-76 heavy-lift transport planes left the Belgorod, Bryansk and Rostov regions on Wednesday. The troops are to reach their permanent bases before June 1, the ministry added.

Nato has estimated that Russia has 40,000 troops along the border with Ukraine. The U.S.-led alliance insisted earlier this week that it had not yet seen any signs of a Russian withdrawal.

Putin scoffed at Nato's scepticism, saying yesterday that the pullout involving such large numbers of troops would take time. 'Those who aren't seeing it should look better,' he said.

He said the pullout will be clearly visible in satellite images.

The announcement went further than an earlier step by the Russian leader two weeks ago, when he said the troops retreated from the border to shooting ranges.

Putin's pullout order and his remarks welcoming Ukraine's presidential election this Sunday seemed to reflect an attempt to ease tensions with the West over Ukraine and avoid a new round of Western sanctions.

He has ignored the plea of some of the rebels in eastern Ukraine to join Russia after independence referendums dismissed as a sham by Kiev and the West.

The U.S. and the European Union imposed travel bans and asset freezes on members of Putin's entourage after Russia annexed Crimea in March.

Western politicians have warned that more crippling sanctions against entire sectors of the Russian economy would follow if Russia tries to grab more land or attempts to derail Ukraine's election.

Moscow has supported a peace plan brokered by Switzerland and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. It proposes a broad amnesty and the launch of a national dialogue that focuses on the decentralisation of government and upholding the status of the Russian language.

Russia also has pushed for guarantees that Ukraine will not join Nato and has advocated constitutional reforms that would give broader powers to the regions. Some say this would maintain Moscow's clout in the Russian-speaking eastern regions that form the nation's industrial heartland.

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Journalists picket the Ukrainian embassy in Moscow to demand the release of journalists working for RT and Moscow-based Life News who have been detained by forces loyal to the government in Kiev

As clashes continued in the east, the Kremlin angrily protested the detention of journalists working for Russian media outlets in Ukraine.

Graham Phillips, a British national working for state-controlled English language television station RT, was detained earlier this week by Ukrainian forces.

Two correspondents with Moscow-based Life News television are still in Ukrainian custody and facing accusations of aiding armed insurgents - a claim that Putin has dismissed as 'rubbish and nonsense.'