Ukraine crisis: Government carries out airstrikes against pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk

Updated

Ukrainian government warplanes carried out airstrikes against pro-Russian rebels who seized Donetsk international airport, as both sides mounted an aggressive show of force following the election of a new president.

Black smoke was seen billowing from the area of the airport after about two hours of repeated explosions and gunfire, while jets roared overhead.

A security official also said that paratroopers had landed in one of the fiercest clashes since violence broke out in the east two months ago.

Saying that a deadline had passed for separatist militants to lay down their arms, a spokesman for the Ukrainian joint forces security operation in the region said two Sukhoi Su-25 jets had carried out strafing runs, firing warning shots around Sergei Prokofiev International Airport.

"In reply, the guerrillas opened fire at random from all types of weapons," he said.

A second spokesman, Vladislav Seleznyov, said: "A MiG-29 carried out an airstrike on the area where the terrorists were concentrated."

The first spokesman said the militants had then spread out across the territory of the airport, whose state-of-the-art main terminal was built only for the 2012 European soccer championships held in Ukraine.

Who is Petro Poroshenko?

Petro Poroshenko, 48, provided financial support to the revolt that brought down his Moscow-back predecessor, Victor Yanukovych.



He is known as the "Chocolate King" after making his fortune as a confectionery manufacturer.



He served in cabinet under Mr Yanukovych and also under previous governments led by Mr Yanukovych's foes.



He was a former national security council chief, foreign minister and trade minister. This breadth of experience has given him a reputation as a pragmatist capable of bridging Ukraine's divide between supporters and foes of Moscow.



Mr Poroshenko and former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko traded accusations of corruption when both were in government following the "Orange Revolution" of 2004-05 that thwarted Mr Yanukovych's first bid for the presidency. But many voters saw him as less culpable than many in Ukraine of enriching himself illegally.



Where many "oligarchs" across the former Soviet Union took control of huge, formerly state-owned assets in the 1990s, many credit Mr Poroshenko with building his Roshen confectionery empire himself.



In addition to his confectionery empire, Mr Poroshenko's other interests include a major TV news channel.

Source: Reuters Petro Poroshenko, 48, provided financial support to the revolt that brought down his Moscow-back predecessor, Victor Yanukovych.He is known as the "Chocolate King" after making his fortune as a confectionery manufacturer.He served in cabinet under Mr Yanukovych and also under previous governments led by Mr Yanukovych's foes.He was a former national security council chief, foreign minister and trade minister. This breadth of experience has given him a reputation as a pragmatist capable of bridging Ukraine's divide between supporters and foes of Moscow.Mr Poroshenko and former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko traded accusations of corruption when both were in government following the "Orange Revolution" of 2004-05 that thwarted Mr Yanukovych's first bid for the presidency. But many voters saw him as less culpable than many in Ukraine of enriching himself illegally.Where many "oligarchs" across the former Soviet Union took control of huge, formerly state-owned assets in the 1990s, many credit Mr Poroshenko with building his Roshen confectionery empire himself.In addition to his confectionery empire, Mr Poroshenko's other interests include a major TV news channel.

The action, after an overnight move by rebels of the Donetsk People's Republic to take over the airport, looked like a forceful first act by Petro Poroshenko, the billionaire who swept to the presidency on Sunday.

He said he would not tread lightly with "terrorists", despite calls from Russia for Kiev not to step up its halting military operations in the east of Ukraine.

Mr Seleznyov said a helicopter had been in action to destroy an anti-aircraft battery being used by rebels. He denied a report from the rebel side that a helicopter had been brought down.

A local news website published a photograph of three men in camouflage with a rapid-fire grenade launcher pointing skywards on what appeared to be the modern glass and concrete roof of the airport terminal. It said they were separatist rebels.

Representatives of the Donetsk People's Republic said they had taken over the airport and were attempting to clear it of government forces stationed there.

Donetsk, a city of 1 million that is effectively the capital of the industrial Donbass region, is largely in the hands of pro-Russian separatists who prevented local people taking part in the presidential election on Sunday.

Donetsk airport authorities announced its closure to flights early on Monday after the separatists came to the facility to demand the withdrawal from the area of Ukrainian forces, who have been policing the perimeter.

"The rebels are in the terminal. The rest of the airport area is controlled by the [Ukrainian] National Guard. The two sides are in talks now," airport spokesman Dmitry Kosinov told Reuters before the gunfire broke out.

The pro-Moscow rebels have declared autonomous "people's republics" in the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk following makeshift referendums on May 11. They say the two regions are no longer part of Ukraine.

Only about 20 per cent of the two regions' polling stations functioned in Sunday's presidential election and many voters stayed at home, fearful for their safety. No polling stations were open in the city of Donetsk.

A spokeswoman for the separatists said the group now at the airport was the "east" battalion which took part in clashes last Friday with a Ukrainian militia just west of Donetsk in which at least two people were killed.

Boxing champ Klitschko becomes mayor of Kiev

Meanwhile, Vitaly Klitschko, a former world heavyweight boxing champion, has claimed victory in an election to become mayor of Kiev, clinching a major role in Ukraine's emerging new political order after Sunday's presidential election.

Mr Klitschko is a close ally of Mr Poroshenko, whom he backed for the top job after quitting the contest himself.

As mayor, Mr Klitschko takes responsibility for the "Maidan", central Kiev's Independence Square, which is the nerve-centre of the uprising which ousted president Viktor Yanukovych in February after his attempt to move Ukraine closer to Russia and away from Europe.

Backed by Mr Poroshenko, Mr Klitschko has told protesters it was finally time, after fair and free presidential and mayoral elections, for hundreds of protesters who have kept up their vigil since Mr Yanukovych fled to Russia to leave the Maidan.

"The main task of the Maidan has been achieved - we were saved from dictatorship. The barricades have fulfilled their function and must now be removed," Mr Klitschko, 42, told a joint news conference with Ukraine's new president.

The square is still covered with tents and barricades, many festooned with posters, flags, banners and photographs of the 100-plus people killed by Mr Yanukovych's forces last winter - a powerful symbol of "people power" in the ex-Soviet republic.

'Good chance' of Moscow-Kiev gas deal: EU energy chief

Russia and Ukraine have a "good chance" of striking a deal to resolve a standoff over Russian gas deliveries to Ukraine by June 1, European energy commissioner Guenther Oettinger says.

"We made relatively good progress and have a good chance of reaching an agreement by June 1," Mr Oettinger said after a Berlin meeting with Russian energy minister Alexander Novak and his Ukrainian counterpart Yuri Prodan.

Under a proposed deal, subject to approval in Kiev and Moscow, Ukraine would pay $2.5 billion to Russian energy giant Gazprom in coming days and weeks - about half the amount Russia says it is owed in back-payments and for the month of June.

Mr Oettinger said the goal was to ensure "security of supply" and "to avoid disruptions", adding that aid from the EU and International Monetary Fund would help Ukraine pay its debt, provided both Moscow and Kiev agree to the deal.

"We make it possible, but the decision will be made in Kiev," the German EU commissioner said.

Amid the tension in eastern Ukraine, Russian energy giant Gazprom has hiked gas prices and toughened conditions for Ukraine.

Gazprom had warned Kiev it would suspend its gas deliveries on June 3 if Ukraine does not by then settle its bill for June, worth $1.66 billion. Moscow has also said Ukraine had amassed a gas debt of $3.5 billion.

Reuters/AFP

Topics: unrest-conflict-and-war, ukraine

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