After worst bloodshed since February Revolution, Kiev presses on with anti-terror operation
6:26PM BST 03 May 2014
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Ukraine's government has said the country is now "at war” with pro-Russia insurgents as the Kremlin warned that it had received “thousands” of pleas for help from inside its neighbour.
As fighting raged around the town of Kramatorsk in the eastern region of Donetsk, Ukrainians took stock of the worst bloodshed since the February Revolution.
At least 42 people died in the port city of Odessa on Friday, including dozens who were killed inside a burning building, while the army’s “anti-terrorist” operation in the east claimed another nine lives.
After two false starts, the Ukrainian army now appears to be pressing on with this offensive designed to restore Kiev’s control over Donetsk.
But Vasyl Krutov, the head of Ukraine’s “anti-terrorist” command, cautioned that the situation was more serious than had been thought. “What we are facing in the Donetsk region and in the eastern regions is not just some kind of short-lived uprising – it is in fact a war,” he said.
”Gunfire and clashes” were still happening around Kramatorsk, added Mr Krutov. Ukrainian forces had managed to recapture the local headquarters of the SBU intelligence service in Kramatorsk, the interior ministry said later, and the television tower.
But Ukraine believes that Russian Spetsnaz special forces soldiers, aided by operatives from the GRU – or military intelligence – have organised the seizure of public buildings in a dozen towns and cities across Donetsk and the neighbouring region of Luhansk.
The pro-Russian insurgents have achieved complete control over the town of Slavyansk, located near large arms dumps dating from the Soviet era that contain as many as 2.5 million Kalashnikov assault rifles.
Ukrainian forces have tried to seal off Slavyansk by capturing pro-Russian checkpoints on its perimeter. On Friday, this effort cost them two military helicopters, both of which appear to have been shot down with surface-to-air missiles, strengthening the evidence that Russia is supplying the gunmen.
Ukrainian soldiers wait on a road being blocked by separatists to prevent them from advancing in Andreevka, a village near Slavyansk (Corbis)
Ukrainian soldiers wait on a road being blocked by separatists to prevent them from advancing in Andreevka, a village near Slavyansk (Corbis)
So far, however, Ukraine’s army has not yet attempted a full scale assault to retake the town.
All of its decisions are taken under the shadow of President Vladimir Putin’s possible response. Russia has massed between 35,000 and 40,000 troops on Ukraine’s eastern frontier, stockpiling enough fuel, ammunition and medical supplies – including a chain of field hospitals – for this army to be able to mount an invasion within 12 hours of receiving the order.
The incidents on Friday, particularly in Odessa where 31 pro-Russian protesters were burnt to death inside a public building, could provide the pretext for a Russian advance into eastern Ukraine. The Kremlin would argue that its soldiers are needed to restore peace and to protect ethnic Russians.
In Donetsk, the pro-Moscow leaders of a self-proclaimed “People’s Republic” have already urged the deployment of Russian troops as “peacekeepers”.
On Saturday, they voiced outrage over the bloodshed in Odessa. Denis Pushilin, the self-styled “prime minister”, said it was unimaginable that such killings could have occurred on “our land, on Russian land”.
Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesman, blamed Ukraine’s new rulers on Saturday, saying they were “up to their elbows in blood”.
Ominously, he added that Russia had been inundated with “thousands” of pleas for help from inside Ukraine. “People are calling in despair, asking for help, the overwhelming majority demand Russian help. All these calls are reported to Vladimir Putin,” said Mr Peskov.
Russia had not yet decided how to respond, he added, pointing to the unprecedented scale of the recent bloodshed. “This element is absolutely new to us,” said Mr Peskov, according to the Interfax news agency. “Kiev and its Western sponsors are practically provoking the bloodshed and bear direct responsibility for it.”
Ukraine plans to hold a presidential election on May 25. The aim is to install a legitimate leader after the downfall of Viktor Yanukovych, the fallen president, in the February Revolution. Russia regards Ukraine’s current rulers as illegal usurpers who seized power in a coup d’etat. But the Kremlin also opposes holding an election that would regulate the situation.
Mr Peskov denounced as “absurd” any suggestion that a poll might be staged under the current conditions of “military action, a punitive operation and mass killings”.
A man sits on the remains of the pro-Russian supporters' camp near the trade union building guarded by Ukrainian policemen in Odessa, Ukraine (Alexey Furman/ EPA)
A man sits on the remains of the pro-Russian supporters' camp near the trade union building guarded by Ukrainian policemen in Odessa, Ukraine (Alexey Furman/ EPA)
John Kerry, the US secretary of state, spoke to his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, by telephone. The opposing demands of the two men showed their starkly different views of the crisis. Mr Kerry said that Russia must “withdraw support for the separatists” and begin to “de-escalate the situation”.
Mr Lavrov, by contrast, said the burden of restoring calm rested on America. He urged Washington to restrain the Kiev government and, in particular, force a halt to the military offensive in the east that was “pushing the country towards a fratricidal conflict”.
Both William Hague, the Foreign Secretary and Baroness Ashton, the EU foreign affairs chief, urged restraint following the Odessa deaths.
“It is important that there is an immediate de-escalation of tension in eastern Ukraine,” Mr Hague said. “At this critical moment, those responsible for provoking instability, particularly in Russia, must step back and allow the people of Ukraine to prepare for free and fair elections and repair their severely damaged economy. This will be the focus of my talks in Kiev next week.”
Russia appears to have used its influence yesterday to secure the release of seven military observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), who had been held captive by pro-Kremlin rebels in Slavyansk.
The army officers – four from Germany and one each from Denmark, Poland and the Czech Republic – were freed alongside five Ukrainians who were acting as their escort. They had spent eight days in the hands of the insurgents.
Vyacheslav Ponomarev, the pro-Russian “people’s mayor” of Slavyansk, denied that outside pressure had played a part in securing their release, saying the observers had been set free in accordance with his own earlier promise. Colonel Axel Schneider, a German officer who was among the detainees, told Associated Press news agency that all 12 were in good spirits. “They had a very good attitude and that gave them the strength to stand the situation,” he said. “According to the word of [Mr Ponomarev], we have been treated as good as possible. This is a miserable situation, but we were under his protection.”
The release of the OSCE team appears to have been brokered by Vladimir Lukin, a Russian envoy in eastern Ukraine, who visited Slavyansk on Saturday. He said the observers had been allowed to leave as a “humanitarian” gesture.
Russia may contrast its effort to win the release of the OSCE observers with Ukraine’s decision to recapture the east by force. The Kremlin claims to be promoting stability in Ukraine, while accusing the “illegal” government in Kiev of stirring all of the unrest.
However, the postrevolutionary leadership in Ukraine sees a Russian hand behind the turmoil, not only the east but also in Odessa on Friday. A spokesperson for the SBU blamed the turmoil that ended with pro-Moscow protesters dying inside a burning building on “foreign interference” – the usual euphemism for Russia.
The official also singled out former pillars of Mr Yanukovych’s regime, naming two individuals who held office under the old order and accusing them of paying “saboteurs”. Mr Yanukovych is now living in exile in Russia: former members of his inner circle are believed to be cooperating with the Kremlin.
The new government made a gesture towards national unity by declaring two days of mourning for those who died in Odessa and in the military operation in the east. A statement from Oleksander Turchynov, the interim president, described Friday as a “tragic day for Ukraine”, adding that a decree had been signed providing “for two days of mourning” for the “heroes who died in the course of the antiterrorist operation and also for those who died in the tragic events in Odessa
