High-caliber weapons fire echoed sporadically Tuesday through the eastern city of Donetsk and the mayor urged residents to stay home a day after fighting between Ukrainian troops and separatist rebels reportedly killed dozens.
Donetsk mayor Oleksandr Lukyanchenko said 40 people, including two civilians, were killed after troops repelled a rebel attempt Monday to seize control of the airport, Ukraine's second-largest.
Local morgues were overflowing with bodies Tuesday and rebel leaders said the death toll could rise up to 100.
The city of about 1 million was mostly quiet in the afternoon after an arson attack in the morning that torched a local hockey rink. Occasional gunfire was heard in the morning outside Donetsk airport.
The battles came as billionaire candy magnate Petro Poroshenko claimed victory in Sunday's presidential vote, which authorities in Kiev had hoped would unify the deeply divided nation. Poroshenko, who is yet to be sworn in, has vowed to negotiate a peaceful end to the insurgency in the east, but also has called the separatists "Somali pirates" and promised he would stop them from sowing more chaos.
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