Kiev, Feb 26 (IANS/EFE): Pro-Russian separatists have found at least 30 corpses of Ukrainian soldiers under the rubble of Donetsk airport, which was taken by the rebels last month after bloody fighting, according to the separatists' DAN news agency.

"Forces of the ministry of emergency situations, militiamen and volunteers went to collect debris from the Donetsk airport, where they found at least 30 dead Ukrainian soldiers," said a statement from the ministry of defence of the self-proclaimed People's Republic of Donetsk, DAN reported.

"The corpses will be taken to the morgue, and efforts are under way to identify them and locate their families," added the note.

The ministry of defence of the People's Republic of Donetsk added that the observer mission of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) approached the airport, but left before reaching it after "shots were heard".

Donetsk International Airport has been one of the main focuses of hostilities between pro-Russian militias and the Ukrainian army in the more than 10 months of ongoing war in eastern Ukraine, with pro-Kiev forces withdrawing in January after heavy fighting.