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Ukrainian forces battle separatists in Slovyansk; military helicopter shot down Ukraine helicopter downed as fighting resumes in troubled east
(about 2 hours later)
SLOVYANSK, Ukraine — Pro-Russian militiamen battled Ukrainian government forces Monday in the eastern city of Slovyansk, killing at least four troops and shooting down a military helicopter, the government said. SLOVYANSK, Ukraine – Pro-Russian insurgents shot down a Ukrainian military helicopter as heavy fighting re-erupted around a key rebel stronghold on Monday, leaving at least eight people dead and dozens wounded.
The fierce fighting in Slovyansk, a separatist stronghold, broke out as the Ukrainian government moved to regain control in the eastern part of the country and the key port of Odessa, dispatching a special police unit to that city. The fierce fighting in Slovyansk, a separatist stronghold, broke out as the Ukrainian government sought to regain control of the key Black Sea port of Odessa, dispatching a special police unit to that city after deadly clashes there between rival mobs supporting Ukraine and Russia.
The Interior Ministry said 30 people were wounded in the fighting in Slovyansk but did not specify whether they were security personnel or civilians. In an account posted on its Web site, it said rebels took shelter in residential areas, using civilians as human shields and thus increasing the casualties. The day brought new setbacks to Ukrainian forces, with four troops killed and helicopter shot down by rebel forces in clashes near Slovyansk that spanned several hours.
A Ukrainian military helicopter was shot down by heavy machine gun fire near Slovyansk about 2:30 p.m. local time, the Defense Ministry announced. The Mi-24 helicopter crashed in a river, and its pilots were rescued by Ukrainian security personnel, the ministry said. It said the helicopter was the fourth downed by pro-Russian separatists since a Ukrainian offensive began last week. It was the fourth Ukrainian helicopter to be shot down in a three-day stretch. In a visit to a checkpoint near the fighting, Ukraine’s acting defense minister, Arven Avakov, acknowledged that his country’s military was weak, after years of neglect, and lacked basic supplies.
The Defense Ministry also said that Slovyansk, a city of about 125,000 people, is now encircled by security forces. “Understand the real situation,” Avakov said, wearing combat fatigues and a black bullet-proof vest. “Our army has been destroyed methodically for the past few years. We don’t have a normal army. We don’t have the appropriate special forces. What is happening now is a combat shakedown, the first in the past few years. We are figuring out who is who, who imitates and who is really not afraid.”
The government separately announced that it was temporarily closing all checkpoints and border crossings between Ukraine and Crimea, which Russia annexed in March, because of continuing unrest in the region. The closures also effectively halt travel by boat and airplane from Ukraine to several cities on the Crimean Peninsula, which juts into the Black Sea. The military’s struggle to retake rebel-held cities in the east is mirrored by the police force’s inability to maintain law and order, an impotence pro-Russian militants are exploiting to the full.
In addition, Ukrainian authorities set up roadblocks around the capital, Kiev, as a preventive measure ahead of an important national holiday, Ukraine’s acting president said Monday. In a statement on his official Web site, Oleksandr Turchynov said the extra security is a precaution against possible “provocations” by pro-Russian separatists ahead of Victory Day on Friday. The May 9 holiday marks Nazi Germany’s capitulation to Soviet forces in World War II and has long been celebrated with patriotic fervor by Russians, Ukrainians and other nationalities that formed the old Soviet Union. Ukrainians worry that the holiday could inflame passions among pro-Russian separatists. Monday’s clashes came just as life was beginning to return to Slovyansk, a city of around 125,000 people, with pedestrians strolling across the central Lenin Square and light traffic wending its way through the heavily barricaded, potholed and tree-lined streets, and past decrepit Soviet-era apartment blocks.
Acting Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said Ukrainian forces from the Interior Ministry and the National Guard launched “an anti-terrorist operation” at 4:30 a.m. local time Friday in the Slovyansk-Kramatorsk region. Avakov said the separatists had opened fire on Ukrainian forces with heavy weapons, “including grenade and rocket launchers.” As the offensive began Friday, he said that “a real battle with professional mercenaries” was underway and that the separatists were “hiding behind civilians in residential buildings.” The relative calm was shattered in mid-morning by a loud explosion and the sound of sporadic gunfire.
The fighting in Slovyansk on Monday was heralded by a couple of explosions and brief gunfire. Representatives of both sides said they had suffered fatalities. Church bells pealed, and rebel officials scurried home out of the fortified city council building. Two armored personnel carriers, captured from Ukraine’s military last month, emerged from the rebels’ nearby military headquarters packed with men in camouflage uniform bristling with weapons and apparently heading for the frontline.
Two armored personnel carriers, captured by pro-Russian activists last month from the Ukrainian army, drove out from the separatists’ headquarters. Barricades of tires, sandbags, trees, concrete blocks and old trucks had been largely deserted before the explosions but were quickly manned by jumpy armed men. Barricades of tires, sandbags, trees, concrete blocks and old trucks had been almost deserted before the explosions, but were quickly manned by jumpy armed men; both the rebels and Ukrainian army closed the roads in and out of the city for several hours.
In Odessa, Ukraine’s main Black Sea port, the central government deployed a special police battalion to help restore order, Avakov said Monday. The move came a day after pro-Russian militants attacked a police station in the city and freed 67 of their allies who had been detained during clashes Friday that killed 46. The Ukrainian military helicopter was shot down by heavy machine gun fire near Slovyansk at about 2:30 p.m. local time, the Defense Ministry announced. The Mi-24 helicopter crashed in a river, and its pilots were rescued by Ukrainian security personnel, the ministry said.
Also on Monday, the government of neighboring Moldova, with its large Russian-speaking population, placed its borders on alert, citing the unrest in Ukraine.
The war of words between Russia and Ukraine continued to escalate, as Russia condemned the Ukrainian push against the separatists in the east, who want to see the region aligned with Moscow.
“The Kiev organizers of terror against their own people should think again, and stop the bloodshed, remove troops and finally sit down at the table of negotiations to start normal dialogue on ways to solve the political crisis,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Ukrainian, U.S. and European officials have said that Russia has a hand in the unfolding chaos.
In Kiev, the Ukrainian government announced that it was temporarily closing all checkpoints and border crossings between Ukraine and Crimea, which Russia annexed in March, because of continuing unrest in the region.
The closures also effectively halt travel by boat and airplane from Ukraine to several cities on the Crimean Peninsula, which juts into the Black Sea.
In addition, Ukrainian authorities set up roadblocks around the capital, Kiev, as a preventive measure leading up to an important national holiday, acting President Oleksandr Turchynov said Monday. In a statement on his official Web site, Turchynov said the extra security is a precaution against possible “provocations” by pro-Russian separatists ahead of Victory Day this Friday.
The May 9 holiday marks Nazi Germany’s capitulation to Soviet forces in World War II and has long been celebrated with patriotic fervor by Russians, Ukrainians and other nationalities that formed the old Soviet Union. Ukrainians worry that the holiday could inflame passions among pro-Russian separatists, who have cast themselves as the historic liberators of Ukraine and their opponents in Kiev as “fascists.”
Along with the the four Ukrainian troops who were killed on Monday, some 30 were wounded, the government said. Rebel accounts of casualties on their side varied widely from four to 20 dead.
Rebels accused the army of inflicting civilian casualties on Monday; the Interior Ministry said rebels had taken shelter in residential areas, using civilians as human shields. It was not possible to independently confirm the claims by either side.
Avakov, the acting interior minister, told reporters that the security forces’ advance was being slowed by strict orders not to fire on civilians.
“We are tied down by the civilian population,” he said, according to the Interfax news service. “Some people support us and some do not. It doesn’t matter. The Ukrainian military cannot shoot civilians.”
At one point, rebels fired on a minibus ferrying wounded soldiers out of the combat zone, Ukraine’s state security office said, but the bus was armored and further deaths were avoided.
The city is now encircled by Ukrainian security forces, the Defense Ministry said, although civilian traffic is being allowed to pass army and rebel checkpoints most of the time, albeit after searches and questioning.
But just a short drive south, the towns of Kramatorsk and Konstantinovka remain in rebel hands, with barricades of their own flying the black, blue and red separatist flag.
In Odessa, a special police battalion was deployed by the central government to help restore order, Avakov said. The move came a day after pro-Russian militants attacked a police station in Odessa and freed 67 of their allies, who had been detained during violent clashes Friday.
Avakov said the Kiev-1 police battalion had arrived in the country’s third-largest city to calm tensions that spiked when local police were unable — or unwilling — to control pro-Russian mobs. Avakov, in a posting on his Facebook page Monday, said the failure of the local police to keep order in Odessa was an “outrage” and possibly criminal in nature.Avakov said the Kiev-1 police battalion had arrived in the country’s third-largest city to calm tensions that spiked when local police were unable — or unwilling — to control pro-Russian mobs. Avakov, in a posting on his Facebook page Monday, said the failure of the local police to keep order in Odessa was an “outrage” and possibly criminal in nature.
The special police unit, he said, was recently formed with the assistance of “citizen activists,” presumably to ensure its loyalty to the acting government. Avakov also said that the entire leadership of the local police had been dismissed, and he pledged an investigation of their role in the violence. The special police unit, he said, was recently formed with the assistance of “citizen activists,” presumably to ensure its loyalty to the acting government. Avakov also said the entire leadership of the local police had been dismissed, and he pledged an investigation of their role in the violence.
As questions arose about the effectiveness and loyalty of police in restive areas of the country, Turchynov, the acting president, said the government was forming special police units and reshuffling the leadership of several local police forces. He also said that the National Guard would continue military operations in an effort to quell separatist violence in southeastern Ukraine. As questions arose about the effectiveness and loyalty of the police in restive areas of the country, Turchynov, the acting president, said the government was forming special police units and reshuffling the leadership of several local police forces.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was scheduled to meet with European officials in Vienna on Monday to discuss the crisis in Ukraine, the Russian news service Interfax reported. On Friday, 46 people died in clashes and a fire in Odessa , marking the worst day of violence in Ukraine since pro-Moscow president Viktor Yanukovych fled to Russia in February.
The spread of the violence to Odessa has raised the stakes dramatically in the Ukraine crisis, bringing the conflict between pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian forces to the country’s most important port. The spread of the violence to Odessa has raised the stakes dramatically in the Ukrainian crisis, bringing the conflict between pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian forces to the country’s most important port.
On Friday, 46 people died in clashes and a fire in the city. The fact that most of those victims were pro-Russian activists has given their supporters a raw new sense of grievance.
Hundreds of pro-Russian militants took part in the attack on the police station Sunday, aimed at releasing people arrested after Friday’s fighting, according to witnesses and reporters on the scene.
The crowd chanted “Freedom for Odessa’s heroes” and “Odessa rise up” as men wearing masks and carrying sticks and shields smashed windows and surveillance cameras and forced their way into the compound. Police gave in and released the prisoners, sparking cheers and chants of “Odessa is a Russian town,” witnesses said.
Odessa lies between the Crimean Peninsula and the pro-Russian separatist region of Transnistria in Moldova, where Russia has a peacekeeping force. Concerns are mounting that Russia aims to take effective control of a huge swath of eastern and southern Ukraine, right up to Transnistria.
Ukraine’s new prime minister visited Odessa on Sunday, and he accused Russia of fomenting the unrest two days earlier. Calling it a “tragedy for all Ukraine,” Arseniy Yatsenyuk also blamed a corrupt police force for failing to prevent the violence.
Friday’s violence began when a pro-Ukrainian rally in the city attended by thousands of soccer fans was attacked by pro-Russian separatists. Hours of street battles followed, and pro-Ukrainian activists said three members of their group had been fatally shot.
Later that evening, a pro-Ukrainian mob attacked people in a pro-Russian encampment, sending them running into a nearby building that the crowd then set on fire with gasoline bombs.
It was the worst day of violence in Ukraine since pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych fled to Russia in February.
For the pro-Russian side, the deaths represented oppression by the Kiev government and its supporters.
Sympathizers on Sunday toured the burned-out trade union building where the deaths occurred, residents said. Many cried and brought flowers and candles.
Speakers called on a crowd that had gathered in a nearby square to seize government-owned buildings in the city. “All of Odessa hates you now,” a man shouted at two young police officers.
Elsewhere, there were signs that backers of the pro-Western government in Kiev were not going to give up control of their city without a fight. Dozens of pro-Ukrainian supporters gathered on a main street carrying their own shields and clubs.
“We are never going to lose our city of Odessa to any lovers of the Russian tricolor flag,” local leader Zoya Kozanzhy said by telephone. “Those who don’t like Ukraine can go to Russia.”
She said that pro-Ukrainian activists in Luhansk, Donetsk and other cities under separatist control “should organize their own movements and win the war.”
Elsewhere Sunday, Ukrainian troops surrounded two rebel-held cities roughly 300 miles to the east, nearer the Russian border. But the soldiers appeared to hold back from a declared campaign to recapture the towns. Inside the cities of Slovyansk and Kramatorsk, heavily armed pro-Russian insurgents manned barricades, and residents formed lines at grocery stores and bakeries.
In the eastern city of Donetsk, another pro-Russian stronghold, at least 1,000 people marched through town chanting, “Odessa will not be forgiven.”
“There is no Ukraine; it was a stillborn child,” a woman in her 50s said as a Ukrainian flag was burned.
Kunkle reported from Kiev. Birnbaum reported from Moscow. Alex Ryabchyn and Anna Nemtsova in Donetsk contributed to this report.Kunkle reported from Kiev. Birnbaum reported from Moscow. Alex Ryabchyn and Anna Nemtsova in Donetsk contributed to this report.