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Published January 19, 2015

Jan.15, 2015: Smoke rises over the new terminal of Donetsk airport. (AP)

DONETSK, Ukraine Russian-backed rebels and Ukrainian government troops fought pitched battles Monday for control of Donetsk airport, while residential areas nearby were caught in intensive crossfire.

The airport, reduced to a hulking wreck by months of heavy fighting, has been the epicenter of hostilities due to its symbolic importance and strategic location on the edge of the main rebel-controlled city.

The airport has become a symbol of Ukrainian combat valor and its loss would be a major blow to national pride.

The rebels say they have fully seized the airport in recent fighting, but Ukrainian officials reject the claim. They say Ukrainian troops are still holding out in the wreckage of the new terminal, a steel-and-glass showcase for the UEFA Euro 2012 soccer championship hosted by Ukraine.

Three Ukrainian servicemen were killed and 66 wounded in the previous 24 hours, military spokesman Andriy Lysenko told reporters, but he would not say how many of those casualties occurred at the airport.

On Monday, the rebels blew up part of the new terminal, wounding many Ukrainian troops with debris, Yuriy Biryukov, an adviser to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, wrote on his Facebook account. He said some wounded soldiers were evacuated from the airport but did not say how many troops remained.

It was impossible independently to determine whose forces were currently in control of various sections of the airport.

In the long term, the government fears the separatists could use the airport to expand their control over eastern Ukraine, bypassing border controls and creating an air supply route with Russia.

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Ukraine rebels claim they control Donetsk airport after heavy fighting