Ukraine unrest: Military trying to retake eastern town of Slaviansk, say pro-Russian rebels

Updated

Pro-Russian rebels shot down two Ukrainian helicopters on Friday, killing two crew, as troops tightened their siege of separatist-held Slaviansk in what Moscow called a "criminal" assault by Kiev that wrecked hopes of peace.

President Vladimir Putin's spokesman said the "punitive operation" mounted by Ukrainian forces had destroyed a peace plan agreed with Western powers two weeks ago.

With fears of a civil war rising, Moscow also called for a meeting of the United Nations Security Council over the army operation in Slaviansk.

The Ukrainian defence ministry said in a statement that two Mi-24 helicopter gunships were shot down by shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles while on patrol overnight around Slaviansk, a city that rebels have turned into a heavily-fortified stronghold.

Two airmen were killed and others wounded. The attack helicopter normally has two crew but can carry more.

Other Ukrainian officials and the separatist leader in Slaviansk had said earlier that one airman was taken prisoner.

While Russia is making efforts to de-escalate and settle the conflict, the Kiev regime has turned to firing on civilian towns with military aircraft. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov

A third helicopter, an Mi-8 transport aircraft, was also hit and a serviceman wounded, the defence ministry said. The state's SBU security service said this helicopter was carrying medics.

Ukrainian officials said troops overran rebel checkpoints around the city in an operation launched before dawn and it was now "tightly encircled".

They pointed to the heavy fire that hit the helicopters as proof of the presence of Russian forces, despite repeated denials from Moscow that it has troops on the ground or is controlling the uprising.

Russia says new Ukrainian government to blame

Mr Putin's spokesman heaped blame on the Ukrainian government, which took power two months ago after pro-Western protests forced the Kremlin-backed elected president to flee to Russia.

Noting that Mr Putin had warned before that any "punitive operation" would be a "criminal act", spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies that this was what had now happened at Slaviansk.

He said separatists in the town seeking independence or annexation by Moscow are now holding seven foreign European military observers.

Mr Peskov said the Kremlin was "extremely worried" that an envoy sent by the Russian president to negotiate their release had not been heard from since the Ukrainian operation began.

"While Russia is making efforts to de-escalate and settle the conflict, the Kiev regime has turned to firing on civilian towns with military aircraft and has begun a punitive operation, effectively destroying the last hope of survival for the Geneva accord," he said, referring to a deal on April 17 signed by Russia, Ukraine, the United States and the European Union.

Under that agreement, separatists were supposed to lay down their arms and vacate the public buildings they have seized in about a dozen towns across the Russian-speaking east. Since then, however, they have tightened their grip.

Separatists 'trained military specialists, not locals'

Ukraine's SBU said the deadly use by the separatists of shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles was evidence that "trained, highly qualified foreign military specialists" were operating in the area "and not local civilians, as the Russian government says, armed only with guns taken from hunting stores".

The action in Slaviansk appeared to mark the heaviest military response by Kiev since it tightened a cordon around the city a week ago.

On his Facebook page, interior minister Arsen Avakov posted: "The goal of our anti-terrorist operation and, at the same time, our demands to the terrorists are simple:

"Free the hostages, lay down weapons, vacate administrative buildings and get municipal infrastructure back to normal."

He added: "We are ready to negotiate with the protesters and their representatives. But terrorists and armed separatists [will get] only inevitable retribution."

He urged local people to stay indoors and said Ukrainian forces from the interior ministry, national guard and the armed forces had orders not to fire on residential buildings.

Support for the separatist movement is patchier in eastern Ukraine than it was among the majority ethnic Russian population of Crimea, which Moscow seized and annexed in March.

However, many are fearful of the new authorities in Kiev and have little faith in Ukraine after 23 years of post-Soviet independence marked by rampant corruption and poor living standards.

"Shells came into my garden," said one local man, Gennady. "They say that they have come to defend us. But who from?" he said of the Ukrainian forces. "Civilians must stop them."

Reuters

Topics: government-and-politics, world-politics, unrest-conflict-and-war, ukraine, russian-federation

First posted