Kiev: Six Ukrainian coastguards were hurt and their commander remained unaccounted for Sunday after their cutter hit a mine planted in the bay of the strategic eastern port of Mariupol, officials said.
Ukraine`s State Border Guard Service said the six coastguards had been hospitalised but failed to disclose the extent of their injuries.
"The search continues for one more person. It has been established that he is the cutter`s commander," it said in a statement.
The eastern outskirts of the industrial Sea of Azov port, most if it controlled by Kiev`s forces, has been under attack from pro-Russian militias for weeks.
It was also hit by rebel shells and mortar fire in September. The city controls a major road linking parts of Ukraine`s separatist east with the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, annexed by Russia in March 2014.
