Ukraine moves towards civil
war as Kiev hits back at pro-
Russia rebels
Fighting
in east continues into second day as troops move in to Kramatorsk and
advance on rebel HQ in Slavyansk
3
May, 2014
Two
days of chaos and violence in east and south-east Ukraine appeared on
Saturday to be pushing the country ever closer to civil war, as the
death toll rose following a military counter-offensive launched by
authorities in Kiev against pro-Russia rebels.
An
angry crowd confronted police outside the trade union building in
Odessa where dozens of pro-Russia activists died on Friday night in a
blaze started during clashes with pro-Ukraine protesters. Fighting
continued in the east as the Ukrainian army continued to oust
pro-Russia rebels.
The
region has been rocked by unrest since the new government in Kiev
came to power following demonstrations that ousted pro-Russia
president Viktor Yanukovych at the end of February. Many in Ukraine's
east, which has strong economic and cultural ties with Russia, say
they now feel marginalised. What began as small-scale unrest rapidly
escalated into an armed rebellion as pro-Russia militia groups seized
government buildings. Kiev and its western allies have accused the
Kremlin of orchestrating the chaos, which follows a Putin-backed
putsch that resulted in Crimea's annexation last month.
Slavyansk
was quickly established as the heartland of the pro-Russia forces
operating in the region. Armed men, led by self-appointed mayor
Vyacheslav Ponomaryov, have controlled the city, ringed by
militia-controlled road blockades, for more than two weeks.
In
Donetsk, Luhansk, Kostinovka and Horlivka, rebels have seized most of
the state security and administrative buildings. Kidnappings and
murders have become common as law enforcement officials defect to the
rebels.
As
the Ukrainian army edged ever closer to the rebel HQ in Slavyansk on
Friday, gunfire echoed as fighting raged in the areas surrounding the
city. Ambulances tore down the deserted streets throughout the night
to collect the wounded and dead.
Local
people claim the Ukrainian army shot at unarmed citizens who formed a
human chain near a road blockade on the edge of the village of
Andreevka, only a few miles from Slavyansk. "They are killing
peaceful people," said Igor, 29, a farmworker from the village
who was receiving treatment at the Slavyansk hospital for a shrapnel
injury he said he suffered during the night assault.
"I'm
just a local citizen, unarmed. People ran away when they started
shooting at us," he said. Those with more serious injuries were
reportedly taken to the nearby Kramatorsk hospital. Some suggest that
ambulances and cars carrying the dead and wounded were not allowed to
pass by the Ukrainian military.
The
total number of rebel losses cannot be confirmed, but a spokeswoman
for Ponomaryov said that at least 10 militia and 30 civilians had
died. "Countless more are injured," she said, "and the
number is growing every second."
Less
than 24 hours after the counter-terrorism assault against the rebels
began, Ponomaryov announced the release of seven Organisation for
Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) officials and their
civilian translator, who were taken by bus to Donetsk. Some have
interpreted the move as a bid by the Russia-backed rebels to reduce
tensions. The mayor's spokeswoman said the "guests" had
left "without conditions".
After
a brief hiatus, fighting resumed around midday on Saturday as the
Ukrainian army advanced in Kramatorsk. In an attempt to counter the
attack, lorries and buses were used to fortify the barricades and
block Ukrainian armoured personnel carriers from entering the city by
road.
Local
militia set tyre barricades ablaze in a bid to create a thick screen
of black smoke to hold back the Ukrainian advance. Both sides shot at
each other intermittently for several hours.
One
Ukrainian soldier stationed at a checkpoint in Kramatorsk said he had
come under heavy fire and expected resistance by the rebels to
continue through the night.
The
Kiev counter-terrorism operation is the first real attempt to
dislodge the rebels from their stronghold. Two previous bids to oust
the rebels ended almost as soon as they had begun when Ukrainian army
units leading the operation either surrendered to the militia or were
captured almost immediately. Strong local support for the rebel
movement has proved a major barrier to Kiev in responding to the
situation and the spate of violence.
Many
in Slavyansk see the Ukrainian army as an invading rather than
liberating force. "I understand the soldiers; they have signed
up and now they don't know what to do," said market-stall owner
Tatiana, 50. "The government are pitching people here against
each other."
Behind
her, a homemade banner taped to a statue of Lenin outside the rebel
headquarters in the city's administration building summed up local
sentiment about the anti-terrorism operation: "Turchynov and
Yatsenyuk [Ukraine's interim president and prime minister] are
killers".
At
the foot of the monument, local people have started placing flowers
in memory of the latest round of those killed. "I'm sorry we
couldn't protect you," sobbed one pensioner on her husband's
shoulder as she came to pay her respects at the memorial. The
fighting and increased isolation in the east – television stations
have been turned on and off by the opposing forces – have proved a
fertile breeding ground for Russia's churning propaganda machine,
which has played a central role in fuelling the conflict.
Many
believe that foreign forces and nationalist groups are acting as part
of the Kiev-led operation under the auspices of the Ukrainian army.
"They are here: the US army, mercenaries, Right Sector,"
sobbed 48-year-old Yelena in the city's central square. "You see
what they have done in Odessa. They want to kill us, to destroy us
totally."
Ponomaryov,
who yesterday celebrated his birthday as Ukrainian forces advanced on
the city, has called on Russia to deliver the promised reinforcements
now that they are under attack by Ukrainian forces. But so far the
Kremlin has not responded, other than to say that Moscow has "lost
control" over the rebels operating in Ukraine's east.
"Where
is Russia? Putin stays silent. Russia, Russia, there is no Russia
here. Why? We beg Putin to come and save us," said Yelena,
visibly distraught. She drew a comparison between the situation in
Ukraine's east and the wars that ravaged the Balkans in the 1990s,
adding that she would like to evacuate her children from the city but
that people are unable to leave.
A
double tier of barricades now surrounds Slavyansk. In some places
pro-Russia militia checkpoints are separated from the Ukrainian army
by only a few miles of tarmac. A gauntlet of tree trunks, felled by
local people sympathetic to the rebels, blocks the main routes in and
out of the city, making access by vehicle almost impossible. Handfuls
of people are making their way out by foot to surrounding villages.
"I would rip the Ukrainian army apart with my teeth if I could"
said 35-year-old builder Vasily as he stood guard with a group of
others at his village's main road leading toward Slavyansk.
Just
two days ago, the advancing Ukrainian army passed through the
village, fuelling anger in the local population. "We don't want
them here. Who invited them? Why are they attacking peaceful people?"
he asked.
But
as Kiev made advances in one front, losses occurred on the other. As
evening fell on Saturday around 100 unarmed men wearing ragtag
military fatigues stormed the security force building in Donetsk,
meeting minimal resistance from the local police who watched from a
distance. Security forces across the region have defected to the
militia's side, and the easy capture followed a pattern of seizures
in the region that appear to have been prearranged with police
chiefs.
The
rebels looted the building before turning their attentions to the
nearby private office of the governor of Donetsk, Sergey Taruta. The
rebels seized Taruta's state office, located on the city's
administrative building's 11th floor, nearly a month ago. Since then
local government has been operating out of a hotel in the city
centre.
Ukraine crisis: 'It's war, civil
war'
Mother's
grief in Odessa after violence between pro-Russian and
pro-Ukrainian factions leaves 46 people dead
3
May, 2014
Fatima
Popura and her husband Vadim watched the violence in Odessa
escalate on their television screens, but as night fell they went
out to see what was happening at the city's trade union building,
which had been at the centre of fighting between pro-Russia and
pro-Ukraine groups.
When
they arrived, the deadly fires started by molotov cocktail-throwing
activists were mostly out. Walking around amid riot police and
protesters, the couple noticed a row of bloody bodies by the side
of the road.
When
they went closer, Fatima recognised her 17-year-old son among the
dead. Vadim, named after his father, was wearing a tracksuit with
improvised body armour. His face was covered with dried blood.
Vadim
had been among those trapped in the burning building and had been
killed when he chose to jump from the upper storeys to escape the
flames, Fatima said as she choked back sobs. Her husband looked on
blankly.
"We
have lost our son and we do not know how to grieve," she said
as medics and investigators looked over the corpses in the
headlights of a parked car.
Fatima
denied that Vadim was a separatist seeking to join parts of Ukraine
with Russia, or that he would have been aggressive. "It is
war. It is civil war. I can't describe it any other way," she
said. Her husband said that their son recently stopped taking part
in pro-Russia protests. "But for some reason he came today."
The
Popuras' story is one of many similar tragedies that have played
out in this Black Sea resort city in the wake of street battles on
Friday that culminated in desperate hand-to-hand fighting in the
burning trade union building.
Local
prosecutors said on Saturday that 46 people died in the violence.
Odessa's Number One hospital had treated 90 people with wounds
caused by gunshots, knives and splinters, according to head doctor
Andrei Vegerzhinsky. The injured had also been taken to four other
hospitals in the city, he said. By Saturday morning, bodies had
been removed from the streets outside the trade union building and
police had established a cordon around the site. People brought
flowers, and large piles of roses, lilac, tulips and carnations lay
by the blackened doors. Orthodox priests led prayers for the dead.
By
midday, a crowd of about 1,000, mainly pro-Russia protesters, angry
at the apparent failure of the police to prevent the killings, had
gathered outside and were chanting "Shame, shame, shame!"
at police. There were also chants of "Russia, Russia, Russia!"
and "Putin, Putin, Putin!"
Small
scuffles broke out and two TV crews, accused of lying, were
assaulted. Protesters, many in tears, screamed at police officers.
In an apparent attempt to calm the crowd, police let several people
enter the building.
There
were 32 corpses still inside, said Moris Ibragimov, a pro-Russia
activist, after leaving. "Everyone inside was burnt. You can't
recognise anyone because of the burns – they looked like plastic
[dolls]," he said.
Alexander
Kiselyov said people were lying as they died: on stairs and in
burnt-out offices. "There's a mountain of bodies in there,"
he said.
The
violence that took hold in the port city began about 3pm on Friday
when masked men attacked a pro-Ukraine rally attended by football
fans. Subsequent running street battles between well-armed men
culminated in the assault on the trade union building where the
pro-Russia fighters made a last stand. Many pointed the finger at
Odessa's security forces, which were conspicuous by their absence.
"People
were burning for an hour before the police arrived," said
Albina Lukina, 43, who was in the crowd outside the trade union
building.
Local
officials echoed this anger. Valentin Nemirovsky, governor of the
Odessa region, wrote on Facebook: "If the police had followed
the orders of regional leaders and not concerned themselves with
diplomacy, everything would have been different today. But, as
always, they didn't think about the country but about their own
safety. Shame."
Odessa,
a popular holiday destination known for its multiculturalism and
relaxed atmosphere, was marking May Day as the violence broke out.
Police, activists and local journalists appeared to be have been
caught off-guard.
Oleg
Konstantinov, editor of local news site dumskaya.net, who was in
hospital with gunshot wounds to his back and leg, and splinter
wounds in his arm, said he had sent most of his reporters home for
the two-day holiday.
As
Odessa grappled with the bloody tragedy, accusations about
responsibility flew between Kiev and Moscow. Ukraine's security
services said groups of foreign fighters coordinated by Russia had
sparked the violence.
The
Kremlin has dismissed claims that Russian units are operating
inside Ukraine, and many pro-Russia activists instead laid the
blame at the door of fighters from the extreme Ukrainian
nationalist group Right Sector.
Carrying
a walking stick and wearing a jacket with medals from his service
in the Soviet army during the 1980s war in Afghanistan, Alexander
Lugansky had come to the square outside the trade union building to
lay five red carnations. "Kiev and Moscow are both guilty,"
he said. "Odessa will not forgive this."
CNN might finally have the civil war that they helped provoke
The 'self-styled' mayor of Slavyansk? May be - but aren't the leaders of the Junta in Kiev also 'self-styled'?
Abducted
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From al-Jazeera
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