Scores feared dead in Donetsk as anti

Ukrainian forces fought with separatists in the city of Donetsk for a second day on Tuesday after inflicting heavy losses on the rebels and the government vowed to press on with a military offensive 'until not a single terrorist' was left.

Pro-Russian rebels said more than 50 of their fighters had been killed. The mayor of Donetsk, an industrial hub in eastern Ukraine, said the death toll in the clashes which erupted on Monday stood at 40, including two civilians.

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International election monitors say they've received reports of fear in Donetsk, where some voting stations are closed. Nathan Frandino reports. Reuters

Video DONETSK: KIEV FORCES TAKE CONTROL OF AIRPORT

Ukraine used air strikes and a paratroop assault on Monday to clear rebels from Donetsk's international airport and had pushed the separatists out of the complex by the end of the day. But shooting continued through the night and on Tuesday the road to the airport bore signs of fighting overnight and heavy machine-gun fire could be heard in the distance in mid-morning.

'The airport is completely under control,' Interior Minister Arsen Avakov told journalists in the capital Kiev. 'The adversary suffered heavy losses. We have no losses,' he added.

'We'll continue the anti-terrorist operation until not a single terrorist remains on the territory of Ukraine,' First Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Yarema said on the margins of a government meeting.

Ukraine launched the fresh offensive against the rebels, who have occupied strategic points in Donetsk and other towns in the east, after Ukraine's newly elected president rejected any talks with 'terrorists.' Petro Poroshenko, a 48-year-old billionaire oligarch, won overwhelming support in Sunday's election that many hope will draw a line under six months of upheaval. He said a robust military campaign in the east should be able to put down a separatist revolt in 'a matter of hours.'

DONETSK: HOW MANY ARE DEAD?

A Reuters correspondent counted 20 bodies in combat fatigues in one room of a hospital morgue, some of them missing limbs.

'We have 29 or 30 dead on our side but that is not the final count yet,' said Dima Gau, a rebel representative.

Donetsk mayor Alexander Lukyanchenko said 40 people had been killed in the past day, 38 of the bodies being of those involved in fighting around the airport.

The prime minister of the rebels' self-styled Donetsk People's Republic, Alexander Borodai, was quoted by Russia's RIA news agency as telling a news conference in the city: 'We have lost more than 50 volunteers.'

MOSCOW: PUTIN PRESSES FOR END TO ANTI-REBEL OFFENSIVE

Russian President Vladimir Putin called on Tuesday for an immediate halt to Ukraine's military operation against pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country.

In his first reported comments on Ukraine since its presidential election on Sunday, the Kremlin quoted Putin as telling Italy's prime minister by telephone that dialogue between Kiev and representatives of the regions would help efforts to resolve the crisis.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reiterated Moscow's call for an immediate end to violence in Ukraine on Tuesday, Russian news agencies reported.