FRANCE 24’s special envoys reported from the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk as the Ukrainian army launched an “anti-terrorism operation” Monday against pro-Russian insurgents controlling the airport.

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The battle lasted several hours and at least one civilian was killed in the fighting. A rebel militant told journalists Tuesday that the bodies of almost 30 fighters had been delivered to a nearby hospital.

FRANCE 24’s special envoys Robert Parsons and James André are on location in Donetsk.

Parsons and André spoke to civilians who were visibly terrified. One man said he witnessed a woman being decapitated by a shell.

"There were explosions, two there, by the flower pots, and another one here, which ripped the head off a woman. Her son was with her, and he was screaming, he was cut by shell splinters," he told FRANCE 24.

That evening, Donetsk’s mayor told civilians to stay inside to avoid the fighting.

Election fails to quell conflict

Monday’s battle came just as billionaire chocolate magnate Petro Poroshenko claimed victory in Sunday’s presidential vote.

Poroshenko, who won a landslide victory, has vowed to negotiate a peaceful end to the insurgency in the east, where rebels have fought Ukrainian troops for more than a month.

Just before fighting broke out Monday, Poroshenko said that the insurgency could be crushed in a “matter of hours”.

“If anybody had any thoughts that this conflict might die down after the elections, they can forget about that now. This is the first time that we’ve seen such intense conflicts so close to Donetsk,” FRANCE 24’s Parsons reported.

(FRANCE 24 with AP)

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