Ukraine Troops Kill 3 Assailants Storming Eastern Base

Ukrainian troops repelled an overnight attack on their base in the southeast city of Mariupol, killing three of the assailants and wounding 13, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said Thursday.

Around 300 people mounted the attack using guns and petrol bombs on the interior ministry troops, none of whom was hurt, Avakov said on his Facebook page.

"After attackers threw incendiary devices and Molotov cocktails at the military unit and opened fire at guard posts, the national guards fired warning shots," Avakov said.

After the attack continued, they turned their weapons directly on the assailants.

Sixty-three people were detained and security officials confiscated weapons, communication devices and "Russian cell phones", the statement said.

The operation was still ongoing with additional police patrolling the port city and special forces being helicoptered in as reinforcements, Avakov said.

In a related matter, Ukraine's parliament voted Thursday to have acting President Oleksandr Turchynov urgently consider bringing back conscription to boost military readiness in the face of Russian "aggression" in the east of the country.

Kiev's leaders and many Western countries say Moscow is fomenting the insurgency and playing a leading role by deploying its special forces and military intelligence officers to the region. Russia also has tens of thousands of troops massed on Ukraine's border in what NATO fears could be preparation for an invasion.

The lawmakers in Kiev approved a text "to recommend to the acting president to restart conscription into the Ukraine armed forces without delay" in order to "bolster Ukraine’s defence capabilities in connection with aggression from the Russian Federation".

Ukraine scrapped compulsory military service for young men only this year, under a law introduced in 2013 by Viktor Yanukovych, the Kremlin-friendly president who ended up fleeing mass pro-Western demonstrations two months ago.

Ukraine currently has 130,000 personnel in its armed forces.

The latest attack in eastern Ukraine follows the seizure of administrative buildings by pro-Russian separatists in Mariupol and other towns across the restive east of the country.

High-level talks aimed at ending the escalating crisis involving the top diplomats of Russia, Ukraine, the United States and the European Union are due to start in Geneva on Thursday. 

Kiev has struggled to reimpose its authority over its industrial heartland. A military operation to oust the separatists turned to fiasco Wednesday when pro-Moscow militants seized at least six armored vehicles.