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| Ukraine Asks U.N. for Peacekeeping Troops as Militants Defy Deadline | Ukraine Asks U.N. for Peacekeeping Troops as Militants Defy Deadline |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| SLOVYANSK, Ukraine — In a new sign of desperation, Ukraine’s acting president asked the United Nations on Monday to send peacekeeping troops to the east of the country, where pro-Russia militias have seized government buildings and blocked major highways with seeming impunity. | SLOVYANSK, Ukraine — In a new sign of desperation, Ukraine’s acting president asked the United Nations on Monday to send peacekeeping troops to the east of the country, where pro-Russia militias have seized government buildings and blocked major highways with seeming impunity. |
| A deadline set by the Ukrainian government for the militants to vacate occupied buildings passed earlier Monday without any signs of an effort to enforce it, while militants, in an apparently coordinated strategy, used the day to seize another police station in an eastern town, then hoist a Russian flag over the building. | A deadline set by the Ukrainian government for the militants to vacate occupied buildings passed earlier Monday without any signs of an effort to enforce it, while militants, in an apparently coordinated strategy, used the day to seize another police station in an eastern town, then hoist a Russian flag over the building. |
| Rather than enforce the ultimatum, the acting president, Oleksandr Turchynov, reiterated offers of concessions to grant more local autonomy in the east, on a day of wavering between the limited military and political options available to the new and still wobbly government in Kiev. | Rather than enforce the ultimatum, the acting president, Oleksandr Turchynov, reiterated offers of concessions to grant more local autonomy in the east, on a day of wavering between the limited military and political options available to the new and still wobbly government in Kiev. |
| Mr. Turchynov’s request for peacekeeping forces from the United Nations, made in a telephone call to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, reflected those limited options. There was almost no possibility that such a force could be deployed quickly — if it could be deployed at all — because it requires approval from the Security Council, where Russia, as a permanent member, wields a veto. | Mr. Turchynov’s request for peacekeeping forces from the United Nations, made in a telephone call to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, reflected those limited options. There was almost no possibility that such a force could be deployed quickly — if it could be deployed at all — because it requires approval from the Security Council, where Russia, as a permanent member, wields a veto. |
| Conceding the eastern cities would weaken Kiev’s negotiating position at four-way talks planned with Russia, the European Union and pro-Russia figures in Ukrainian politics later this week, as Russia would arrive at the negotiations with one of its stated goals, autonomous authority in eastern cities, already achieved. | Conceding the eastern cities would weaken Kiev’s negotiating position at four-way talks planned with Russia, the European Union and pro-Russia figures in Ukrainian politics later this week, as Russia would arrive at the negotiations with one of its stated goals, autonomous authority in eastern cities, already achieved. |
| According to his presidential website, Mr. Turchynov told Mr. Ban that Russia intended to annex eastern regions, as it did the Crimean Peninsula, though Russia denies intentions to do so. | According to his presidential website, Mr. Turchynov told Mr. Ban that Russia intended to annex eastern regions, as it did the Crimean Peninsula, though Russia denies intentions to do so. |
| “The Russian Federation sends special units to the east of our country that conduct armed seizure of the administrative buildings and threaten the lives of hundreds of thousands of our citizens,” Mr. Turchynov told the secretary, according to his website. The danger of bloodshed is greater than in Crimea, he suggested. The east differs from Crimea because “the majority of people do not want to support separatists.” | “The Russian Federation sends special units to the east of our country that conduct armed seizure of the administrative buildings and threaten the lives of hundreds of thousands of our citizens,” Mr. Turchynov told the secretary, according to his website. The danger of bloodshed is greater than in Crimea, he suggested. The east differs from Crimea because “the majority of people do not want to support separatists.” |
| Mr. Turchynov suggested that what he called an antiterrorist operation could be conducted jointly with peacekeeping troops. “We do not object and even welcome holding joint counterterrorist operations in the east,” he said. “Then, experts and observers will be able to witness the legality of our actions themselves.” The site mentioned nothing of a timeline for organizing such a force, while control here is slipping from Kiev day by day, and had no indication of the secretary general’s response. | Mr. Turchynov suggested that what he called an antiterrorist operation could be conducted jointly with peacekeeping troops. “We do not object and even welcome holding joint counterterrorist operations in the east,” he said. “Then, experts and observers will be able to witness the legality of our actions themselves.” The site mentioned nothing of a timeline for organizing such a force, while control here is slipping from Kiev day by day, and had no indication of the secretary general’s response. |
| Mr. Ban’s spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, later confirmed that Mr. Ban and Mr. Turchynov had spoken by phone. He said nothing about a Ukrainian request for peacekeeping troops, but he told reporters at the United Nations that Mr. Ban had expressed “great concern over the ongoing disturbances and notably the reports of civilians being armed and activity by armed groups on both sides.” | |
| In the Donetsk region, the flagrant defiance of the central government continued unchecked by the ultimatum and the warnings that military force would be used. | In the Donetsk region, the flagrant defiance of the central government continued unchecked by the ultimatum and the warnings that military force would be used. |
| At a roadblock outside Slovyansk, a man wearing a pilfered Ukrainian police uniform and a ski mask directed traffic. Men piled yet more tires on barricades, but otherwise seemed hardly on edge about an imminent attack. In one change, however, local residents said several dozen armed men who they believed might be Russians, rather than pro-Russia local militiamen, departed the city on Monday before dawn. | At a roadblock outside Slovyansk, a man wearing a pilfered Ukrainian police uniform and a ski mask directed traffic. Men piled yet more tires on barricades, but otherwise seemed hardly on edge about an imminent attack. In one change, however, local residents said several dozen armed men who they believed might be Russians, rather than pro-Russia local militiamen, departed the city on Monday before dawn. |
| And defying the Ukrainian government’s warnings, a group of demonstrators seized a police building in Horlivka, a town northeast of Donetsk near the Russian border. Dozens of men hurled rocks and smashed the windows of the building as onlookers cheered, witnesses said. | And defying the Ukrainian government’s warnings, a group of demonstrators seized a police building in Horlivka, a town northeast of Donetsk near the Russian border. Dozens of men hurled rocks and smashed the windows of the building as onlookers cheered, witnesses said. |
| Pro-Russia demonstrators have now occupied administrative buildings or police stations in nine towns. They build barricades and seize and disburse police weapons to the crowds, creating scenes of mayhem that could themselves become justification for Russian intervention, regardless of how the Ukrainian government reacts. | Pro-Russia demonstrators have now occupied administrative buildings or police stations in nine towns. They build barricades and seize and disburse police weapons to the crowds, creating scenes of mayhem that could themselves become justification for Russian intervention, regardless of how the Ukrainian government reacts. |
| The spokesman for President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, Dmitri S. Peskov, told the Russian Information Agency on Monday that Mr. Putin had received many requests from residents of eastern Ukraine asking him to intervene to restore order. | The spokesman for President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, Dmitri S. Peskov, told the Russian Information Agency on Monday that Mr. Putin had received many requests from residents of eastern Ukraine asking him to intervene to restore order. |
| “Unfortunately, we receive many such requests from eastern Ukrainian regions, addressed personally to Putin and asking for help to get involved in one form or another,” Mr. Peskov said. “The president of Russia is watching events in these regions and is deeply worried.” | “Unfortunately, we receive many such requests from eastern Ukrainian regions, addressed personally to Putin and asking for help to get involved in one form or another,” Mr. Peskov said. “The president of Russia is watching events in these regions and is deeply worried.” |
| At the United Nations on Sunday, where the Security Council was convened in an emergency session, the American ambassador, Samantha Power, drew detailed parallels between the actions in the east of Ukraine and in Crimea. The military uniforms and rifles of the pro-Russia militants, she said, resembled those of the Russian soldiers deployed on the Crimean Peninsula, and thinly disguised as local residents. | At the United Nations on Sunday, where the Security Council was convened in an emergency session, the American ambassador, Samantha Power, drew detailed parallels between the actions in the east of Ukraine and in Crimea. The military uniforms and rifles of the pro-Russia militants, she said, resembled those of the Russian soldiers deployed on the Crimean Peninsula, and thinly disguised as local residents. |
| Ms. Power also presented another argument discounting a grass-roots emergence of the eastern Ukrainian militias: The cities they seized were strategically situated on highways separating eastern provinces from Kiev, the capital. | Ms. Power also presented another argument discounting a grass-roots emergence of the eastern Ukrainian militias: The cities they seized were strategically situated on highways separating eastern provinces from Kiev, the capital. |
| “The synchronized surgical seizure of buildings yesterday occurred in towns along the main highway, followed by armed roadblocks — almost as if a coordinated barrier was being formed between Kiev and the major eastern cities of Donetsk and Luhansk,” Ms. Power said. | “The synchronized surgical seizure of buildings yesterday occurred in towns along the main highway, followed by armed roadblocks — almost as if a coordinated barrier was being formed between Kiev and the major eastern cities of Donetsk and Luhansk,” Ms. Power said. |
| Ukrainian officials asserted that a security operation had begun in the Donetsk region, though there were no signs of it. | Ukrainian officials asserted that a security operation had begun in the Donetsk region, though there were no signs of it. |
| Andriy Parubiy, the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, told Ukraine’s Channel 5 television station that “the external aggressors are very cynical putting in front of themselves civilians, at the same time they are standing with guns and hiding behind women, people of old age, sometimes youth, and holding them as a living human shield.” | Andriy Parubiy, the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, told Ukraine’s Channel 5 television station that “the external aggressors are very cynical putting in front of themselves civilians, at the same time they are standing with guns and hiding behind women, people of old age, sometimes youth, and holding them as a living human shield.” |
| He confirmed that his council had adopted a resolution to approve a counterterrorism operation with the “involvement of the armed forces of Ukraine.” | He confirmed that his council had adopted a resolution to approve a counterterrorism operation with the “involvement of the armed forces of Ukraine.” |
| Yet Ukrainian commandos who engaged in gunfights on Sunday with men who had set up roadblocks outside Slovyansk made little headway: They pulled back after a Ukrainian officer was killed and several other officers and a local resident were wounded in a shooting near a roadblock on the town’s outskirts. | Yet Ukrainian commandos who engaged in gunfights on Sunday with men who had set up roadblocks outside Slovyansk made little headway: They pulled back after a Ukrainian officer was killed and several other officers and a local resident were wounded in a shooting near a roadblock on the town’s outskirts. |
| Mr. Turchynov then issued the ultimatum on Sunday, saying that separatists should vacate occupied buildings by Monday morning or face a “large-scale antiterrorist operation” that would involve the Ukrainian military. | Mr. Turchynov then issued the ultimatum on Sunday, saying that separatists should vacate occupied buildings by Monday morning or face a “large-scale antiterrorist operation” that would involve the Ukrainian military. |
| The deadline at 9 a.m. passed without incident in any of the nine cities where government buildings were occupied. | The deadline at 9 a.m. passed without incident in any of the nine cities where government buildings were occupied. |
| Ukraine backed away from a previous deadline of Friday after it offered, as a concession, to hold a referendum on regional autonomy and on guaranteeing the status of Russian as an official language. | Ukraine backed away from a previous deadline of Friday after it offered, as a concession, to hold a referendum on regional autonomy and on guaranteeing the status of Russian as an official language. |