LUHANSK, Ukraine, Sept. 1 (UPI) -- Ukrainian troops retreated from the airport of the contested city of Luhansk, as rebel forces gained ground in eastern and southern Ukraine.
The government's security council said Monday its troops withdrew from Luhansk airport "in an organized manner." Pro-Russian separatists also made advances in nearby Donetsk and further south near the city of Mariupol. The Ukrainian news agency UNIAN, quoting a senior officer, said as many as 680 soldiers had been taken by rebel forces, the majority near the town of Ilovaysk, near Donetsk, where troops were cut off by rebel advances.