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DONETSK, Ukraine, Jan. 7 (UPI) -- At least 12 Ukrainian servicemen were killed and 21 were injured in a bus crash in eastern Ukraine late Monday night. On a road between Sloviansk and Artiomovsk, a truck hit a bus carrying members of the National Guard of Ukraine.
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"During a rotation of volunteers and servicemen in the area of anti-terrorist operations on January 5, military trucks and a bus collided in bad weather conditions," said the police in a statement.
Prosecutor General Vitaliy Yarema's report to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko cites two possible causes for the accident -- a moving violation or a vehicle malfunction.
Eastern Ukraine has been roiled in conflict since the ousting of pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych and the subsequent Russian invasion and annexation of the Crimean Peninsula.
A source of tension between Russia and the West, the Kremlin has been accused of sponsoring fighters in Ukraine to strengthen the pro-separatist movement in region which is dominated by ethnic Russians.
Nearly 5,000 people have been killed in the conflict.
