Kiev, Oct 2 (IANS/EFE): Pro-Russian separatists stormed the international airport in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk after shelling it with artillery and mortar fire, Ukrainian authorities said.

Vladislav Selenznev, spokesman for the government forces, told the Ukrainian daily Ukraina Pravda that the militia began the assault on the airport Thursday before dawn with light weapons.

Earlier, the separatists launched four attacks on Ukrainian positions within the airport and managed to seize control of one of the two terminals.

But they were later expelled from the building by the government forces, according to Selenznev.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian government spokesman Andrei Lysenko told a Russian news agency that Ukrainian paratroopers repelled a heavy attack late Wednesday that left at least seven separatists dead and more than 10 wounded.

The head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, Alexandr Zajarchenko, said earlier that his men were planning to take over the airport by the end of this week.

"In two, or maximum three days, the Donetsk airport will come under our control," the separatist leader said.

For months, Donetsk's international airport has been the scene of tension between the Ukrainian troops, who have been controlling the site since May, and the pro-Russian militias that are besieging it.

The clashes between the warring sides continue despite the peace deal that was signed a month ago in the Belarusian capital of Minsk.

The Ukrainian authorities have denounced repeated attacks by the pro-Russian rebels on the airport, while the separatists accuse the government troops concentrated inside the airport of bombarding the city.

The UN estimates that more than 3,000 people have died in the fighting since April in Donetsk and Lugansk.