KIEV, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Ukrainian forces have pulled back from the main airport at Luhansk in the east of the country after being given the order to do so, a Ukrainian military spokesman said on Monday.
Earlier, a military statement said Ukrainian paratroopers were fighting a Russian tank battalion in a bid to hold onto the airport outside Luhansk, a separatist stronghold on the border with Russia.
"In the Luhansk direction, Ukrainian forces have received an order and have pulled back from the airport," the spokesman Andriy Lysenko told reporters. He said seven Ukrainian service personnel had been killed in the past 24 hours. (Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Writing By Richard Balmforth; Editing by Toby Chopra)
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