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Putin wants troops out of Ukraine's east, acting president renews military draft
Pro-Russian
activists clash with police in front of the regional administration
building in Donetsk, Ukraine, Thursday, May 1, 2014. Anti-government
demonstrators in Donetsk have stormed the local prosecutor's office. The
clash came after a march by several hundred people carrying flags of
the Donetsk People's Republic, a movement that seeks either greater
autonomy from the central government, or independence and possible
annexation by Russia. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Associated Press May 1, 2014 SHARE
By PETER LEONARD, Associated Press
DONETSK,
Ukraine (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that
Ukraine should withdraw its military from the eastern and southern
regions of the country, a statement that could bolster anti-government
insurgents who are seizing buildings.
Hours later, Ukraine's
acting president ordered that the military draft be renewed, citing
"threats of encroachment on the nation's territorial integrity" and
interference by Russia in its internal affairs.
Moscow has
consistently denounced Ukrainian security forces' largely ineffectual
operation against the eastern insurgents and warned they should not
commit violence against civilians.
In
a telephone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Putin
said the removal of military units was the "main thing," but it was
unclear if that could be construed as an outright demand.
Oleksandr
Turchynov's conscription order marked a turnaround for the country,
which last year announced plans to end military conscription in favor of
an all-volunteer force. His order did not specify where
conscript-bolstered forces could be deployed. The renewal of military
conscription affects only men 18 to 25 years old.
Earlier in the
week, the acting president said police and security forces had been
effectively "helpless" against insurgents in the Donetsk and Luhansk
regions, the heart of the unrest, and that efforts should be focused on
preventing the instability from spreading to other parts of the country.
Donetsk referendum wording mentions neither Ukraine nor Russia
Sergei L. Loiko / MCT
A
pro-Russia gunman sits at a barricade in front of the administration
building in Konstyantynivka, in the Donetsk region of the Ukraine,
Monday, April 28, 2014.
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/04/30/6367996/donetsk-referendum-wording-mentions.html#storylink=cpy
DONETSK, Ukraine --
Having lived through a month of pro-Russian separatists storming and
seizing government buildings to raise the Russian flag, Donetsk
residents will be asked May 11 to answer a single question in a hastily
organized referendum.
That question, according to a government
official who said he was present at a meeting Tuesday where the wording
was agreed on: “Do you support the creation of the Donetsk People’s
Republic?”
What would a “yes” vote actually mean? Officials admit
they aren’t sure. In fact, one noted that more than a desire to join
Russia, or be a separate nation, the vote is an attempt to persuade the
central government in Kiev to listen to this populous, industrial
region. Regional council member Nikolai Zagoruiko said that if the
central government would agree to two long-standing demands, the vote
might never have to happen.
“If they would agree to make Russian a
second official language of Ukraine _ so that everyone can understand
the state documents they must read and sign _ and agree to give Donetsk
more local control over the taxes we collect to send to Kiev, so that we
can make this a better place to live, we would probably be satisfied,”
he said. “In fact, if they did those two things, I’m sure the referendum
could be postponed, and eventually forgotten about.”
Analysts and
experts on the region have repeatedly said that they think the idea of a
referendum is more about having a bargaining chip with the Ukrainian
government than a real desire to join Russia. The local legend is that
regional business and political leaders helped create the separatist
movement hoping it would lead to more local budget control.
“But after creating the monster, they lost control of the monster,” Volodymr Kipen, the head of the Donetsk Institute for Social Research and Policy Analysis, told McClatchy this week.
The
notion of the region’s union with Russia _ a primary goal of
pro-separatists _ won’t be mentioned on the yet-to-be printed ballots.
The possibility of remaining a part of Ukraine after the vote _ a
primary concern of pro-Ukrainians, who risk beatings during efforts to
make their point _ also won’t be mentioned on the ballot.
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/04/30/6367996/donetsk-referendum-wording-mentions.html#storylink=cpy
Ukraine to restore conscription after admitting it has lost eastern front
Acting president announces move in response to occupation of power centres by pro-Russian gunmen Roland Oliphant in Donetsk
6:57PM BST 01 May 2014
Police
officers huddle for safety under their riot shields after pro-Russian
activists overran the prosecutor's office in Donetsk (GETTY IMAGES)
Oleksandr
Turchynov, the acting president, reintroduced compulsory military
service in a decree signed on Thursday, a day after he admitted that
security forces have effectively lost control of two eastern regions to a
pro-Russian rebellion.
The decree
cited “the rising force of armed pro-Russian units and the taking of
public administration buildings... which threaten territorial
integrity”.
Former President Viktor
Yanukovych abolished conscription in 2013, as part of a reform aimed at
switching to a professional military.
The
announcement came after pro-Russian demonstrators in Donetsk seized
control of the city’s prosecutor’s office, in the latest of nearly daily
occupations of government buildings in the country’s east.
Rioters fought battles with police after a traditional May Day march in the city turned violent.
The
interim government in Kiev has accused Russia of using its intelligence
services to ferment the armed uprising that has taken effective control
of parts of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions.
Earlier on Thursday
Ukrainian authorities detained a Russian diplomat and ordered him to
leave the country on suspicion of espionage.
After
storming the office, Pro-Russian activists burn uniforms outside the
prosecutor's office in the separatist-held city of Donetsk, Ukraine, May
1, 2014.
VOA News
April 30, 2014 6:22 AM
Ukraine’s
acting president says that the Kyiv government has effectively lost
control over the situation in the country’s eastern Luhansk and Donetsk
regions where a number of government buildings have been taken over by
pro-Russia separatists.
Oleksandr Turchynov says that Russia is
now eyeing six more regions in the country’s east and south. A takeover
by Russia of two such regions, if it were to take full control of
Donetsk, would secure Russia’s land connection with Crimea, which it
annexed last month.
The takeover of two more regions along the
Black Sea coast would connect Russian mainland with Moldova’s
Russian-speaking Transdniestria enclave.
Speaking Wednesday at a
meeting of regional leaders in Kyiv, Turchynov operatives have received
instructions from Moscow to destabilize, via "acts of sabotage," the
regions of Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson, Zaporizhzha, Mykolayiv and
Odesa.
Kyiv says that many such operatives have received training and are being financed by Russia, a charge Moscow denies. On full alert
Bracing
for a possible invasion by Russian troops massed on the border,
Turchynov says Ukraine’s military has been put "on full combat alert."
Speaking
at a ministerial meeting in Kyiv on Wednesday, he said there was a real
threat of Russia starting a war against Ukraine's mainland.
A
Ukrainian soldier stands guard in front of armored personnel carriers
at a check point near the village of Malynivka, southeast of Slovyansk,
in eastern Ukraine, April 29, 2014
Moscow, meanwhile, has voiced concern over Turchynov’s statement, criticizing it as “militaristic.”
“We
insist that Kyiv immediately cease its militaristic rhetoric aimed at
intimidating its own population,” said a Foreign Ministry statement
calling on Ukrainian authorities to start a dialogue toward national
reconciliation instead.
The criticism comes as pro-Russian gunmen
seized yet another administrative building in eastern Ukraine. Armed
insurgents took control of the local council building in Horlivka early
Wednesday, a town of more than 260,000 people. Police say the
pro-Russian rebels have also overtaken the town’s regional police
department.
Hundreds of pro-Russian separatists overran more
Ukrainian government buildings near the Russian border earlier this
week, taking control of several in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
The
pro-Moscow rebels in Donetsk have set a referendum on secession for May
11. A similar vote last month led to Russia's annexation of Ukraine’s
Crimean peninsula. Possible reshuffle
Ukrainian
Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk threatened his government on Wednesday
with a reshuffle if it failed to meet the demands of the people,
venting frustration with Kyiv's failure to restore law and order in the
country's east.
Some critics say the central government has become all but paralyzed by infighting.
“The
country demands action and results. If there is such action and results
that means the government is doing its job,” Yatsenyuk told a
government meeting.
“If in the near future such action and results fail to materialize, that means there will be personnel changes,” said Yatsenyuk.
He
said ministers would also pass to parliament a law on conducting a
nationwide poll on Ukrainian unity and territorial integrity, “those
issues which concern Ukraine today,” on May 25 when Ukraine is due to
hold a presidential election.
Dozens of Ukrainian troops surrender APCs in Slavyansk, refuse to ‘shoot at own people’ (PHOTO, VIDEO)
Published time: April 16, 2014 14:21 Edited time: April 16, 2014 20:18
Dozens of
army troops sent to the eastern Ukrainian city of Slavyansk for an
“anti-terrorist operation” refused to follow orders and surrendered
their weapons and armored vehicles. Some troops openly voiced support
for the eastern Ukrainians. Follow RT’s LIVE UPDATES on military operation in eastern Ukraine
According to Interfax, citing local self-defense activists, some 300 Ukrainian troops agreed to lay down their weapons and “go home” following negotiations in Slavyansk.
Ukrainian
soldiers,who's APCs were taken by protesters earlier today, leave
Slovyansk. Some soldiers genuinely support protesters
— Ольга Ившина (@oivshina) April 16, 2014
“We
managed to negotiate with them. About 300 military – only some of those
who closed around the city – decided to lay down their arms and go
home,” a self-defense activist was quoted as saying.
Reports
from the scene said that the locals would not allow the soldiers to take
back the APCs, but they were allowed to keep their rifles. The people
were cheering the troops.
The militia let departing Ukrainian soldiers keep their guns but not their APCs...
— Alec Luhn (@ASLuhn) April 16, 2014
Под крики "молодцы" украинские военных покидают Славянск. Оружие и техника осталась у протестующих pic.twitter.com/PiljiGCznA
— Ольга Ившина (@oivshina) April 16, 2014
Meanwhile, the anti-government activists guarding the armored vehicles have said that they did not “seize” them as the media claimed, and that the troops “switched sides” peacefully. “They
were not seized by the self-defense forces. In fact, the Ukrainian
troops arrived here flying a Russian flag. In this way, they have taken
the side of the people,” a Slavyansk activist told Russia-24 TV.
Photos
from the scene now show women and children climbing onto the APCs and
taking photos with the armed men in camouflage with St. George ribbons.
A Ukrainian soldier interviewed by RIA Novosti in Slavyansk said the troops were told they are being sent against “Russian invaders who have taken the local population hostage and are waging war at us,” and that they must “free Donbas from occupants.” “This
morning, we started our attack, but the picture we saw in Kramatorsk
turned out to be completely different. We saw in front of us a crowd of
locals, mostly adults, women and men. They explained to us that there
are no occupants here and there is no one to fight. Instead, they gave
us food and talked to us,” the soldier was quoted as saying.
He added that the troops vowed “not to follow orders to shoot at these people.” Some soldiers chose to take the side of the locals, some decided to stay “neutral.” They are now “waiting what comes next.”
Similar
developments were also seen in another Donetsk region city, Kramatorsk,
where Ukrainian troops began entering Tuesday after taking a nearby
airfield by force, captured a day earlier by armed self-defense
activists.
As Ukrainian armored vehicles rolled into the city’s center Wednesday, they were surrounded by locals and surrendered.
Some of the APCs were filmed flying Russian flags in support of the
locals. Kiev eventually confirmed that six APCs were taken away in
Kramatorsk but claimed that they were “captured by the extremists.”
Earlier, coup-imposed Kiev officials dismissed the news as “fake” and even claimed that by raising Russian flags the troops “infiltrated” the areas “controlled by Russian Army units and separatists.”
In
the village of Pchyolkino, south of Kramatorsk, locals blocked part of a
large convoy of armored vehicles. The people are demanding that the
troops turn back their vehicles and leave for Dnepropetrovsk, where they
are stationed.
Local residents trying to block troops on APCs in the same region were filmed
showing bullets that they say were fired by the Ukrainian military as
warning shots but in the direction of the people. At least one person
was injured by such warning shots, according to reports.
.....
Kyiv,April15. /ITAR-TASS/. Fighter shot downover Kramatorsk Airport . Reported byeyewitnesses on the scene.
In particular, they report thatfourfighter jets flew overKramatorskom, the Su-27, allegedlyopened fire overthe localairfield.Whose aircraftand whois responsible for the fighter jet is still unknown.Witnessesnoted that an ambulance arrived on the scene to tend to victims on the airfield.
Newspaper,"Newsof Kramatorsk", reports that three planes were circlingover the airfield. According to information, a group ofpeople had gathered nearthe aerodrome, someof them incamouflage uniforms, manylocal residentswith children.According to preliminary data, shootinginthe aerodrome areawoundedone person.
About500troops with military equipment entered Slavyansk
Witnesses reportthattroopshad landedin the terminal area, there are no more details available at this time.
The situationin Ukraine.Chronicle of events. 15April
Armed Men Seize Police Station in Eastern Ukraine City
Armed men wearing masks and camouflage uniforms guard a police station in the eastern Ukrainian city of Slovyansk on Saturday.Credit Anatoliy Stepanov/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
DONETSK,
Ukraine — Pro-Russian militants attacked police stations and other
security facilities in the most populous part of eastern Ukraine on Saturday, in a brush fire of violent unrest that the government in Kiev immediately denounced as Russian “aggression.”
The
attacks on the Police Headquarters here and on a police station and a
state security branch in Slovyansk about 60 miles away, along with
reports of shooting in several other towns, suggested a coordinated
campaign to destabilize the Donetsk region, a vitally important
industrial and coal-mining area that borders Russia.
A
local journalist on the scene said the raid on the police station
appeared to be the work of local pro-Russian militants rather than a
repeat of the scenario in Crimea, where heavily armed Russian soldiers
without markings on their uniforms seized control of airports and other
vital installations in late February at the start of a
Kremlin-orchestrated campaign to annex the region.
In
Donetsk, the regional capital, a group of unarmed pro-Moscow activists
tried to storm a prosecutor’s office, but were beaten back by riot
police. A few blocks away, several hundred people gathered outside the
headquarters of the regional administration to cheer pro-Russian groups
that seized the building last Sunday and declared an independent state,
the People’s Republic of Donetsk. Ukrainian authorities vowed on
Wednesday to end the occupation, by force if necessary, by Friday but
later backed away from this threat, hoping that government promises of
more local autonomy for Ukraine’s Russian-speaking regions might resolve
the standoff.
But
there was no sign Saturday of the protesters ending their occupation.
Instead, they reinforced their defensive barricades and welcomed several
dozen Cossacks in military uniforms to their ranks.
Ukraine’s
acting president, Oleksandr V. Turchynov, called an emergency meeting
late Saturday of the country’s national security council to discuss the
escalating crisis in the mainly Russian-speaking east of the country.
Fears that the government is losing control have been fueled by the
militants’ seizing of a large number of weapons over the last week. Some
300 automatic rifles were taken from the Donetsk offices of the state
security service after it was briefly taken over by pro-Russian
protesters last weekend, and according to the Ukrainian Interior
Ministry, 400 Makarov handguns and 20 automatic weapons were looted on
Saturday from the police station in Slovyansk, which had been seized.
“The goal of the takeover was the guns,” the ministry said.
Play Video|0:59
Pro-Russian Protesters Build Barricades
After
seizing a police station in Slovyansk, Ukraine, pro-Russian protesters
raised the banner of the People’s Republic of Donetsk and constructed
barricades around the station.
The
demands of the pro-Russian activists in eastern Ukraine keep shifting
between outright secession and greater autonomy within Ukraine. But
calls for unity with Russia now seem to predominate, heightening
concerns in the West that Moscow is orchestrating the disorder to create
a pretext for an invasion. Russian troops have been massed for weeks
near the Ukrainian border.
Kiev government to deploy troops in Ukraine's east
4:01 PM Monday Apr 14, 2014
Armed
pro-Russian activist stands at a makeshift checkpoint at the entrance
into the eastern Ukrainian town of Slovyansk. Photo / AP
Turning
to force to try to restore its authority in the vital industrial east,
Ukraine's government announced it was sending in troops to try to quash
an increasingly brazen pro-Russian insurgency, despite repeated warnings
from the Kremlin.
Accusing Moscow of fomenting the unrest,
Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov said in a televised address that
such a "large-scale anti-terrorist operation" would ensure Russia did
not "repeat the Crimean scenario in Ukraine's east." Turchynov pledged
to offer amnesty to anyone surrendering their weapons by Monday morning
(local time). Watch: Ukraine to launch anti-terror operation
VideoReliance
on the military is a response that hints at concerns over the
reliability of the police, who have often proven unable or unwilling to
repel pro-Russian gunmen and other Moscow loyalists from seizing key
state facilities.
With
tens of thousands of Russian troops massed along Ukraine's eastern
border, there are fears that Moscow might use unrest in the mainly
Russian-speaking region as a pretext for an invasion.
Speaking
late Sunday on Russian state television, ousted president Viktor
Yanukovych accused the CIA of being behind the new government's decision
to turn to force, a claim the CIA denied as "completely false."
Yanukovych
claimed that CIA director John Brennan met with Ukraine's new
leadership and "in fact sanctioned the use of weapons and provoked
bloodshed."
CIA spokesman Dean Boyd said that while the agency
doesn't comment on Brennan's travel itinerary, the "claim that director
Brennan encouraged Ukrainian authorities to conduct tactical operations
inside Ukraine is completely false."
Ukraine now has "one foot
into a civil war," Yanukovych declared, flanked by his former prosecutor
general and interior minister, the two associates most despised by the
protesters whose monthslong demonstrations were ignited by Yanukovych's
decision to back away from closer relations with the European Union and
turn toward Russia. Yanukovych fled to Russia in February, saying he
feared for his life.
Earlier Sunday, Ukrainian special forces
exchanged gunfire with a pro-Russia militia outside the eastern city of
Slovyansk - the first reported gunbattle in the east, where armed
pro-Russian men have seized a number of key government buildings to
press their demands for referendums on autonomy and possible annexation
by Russia, following the pattern set by the vote in Crimea last month. A
Ukrainian security officer was killed and at least two others wounded.
Calling
such attacks a "Russian aggression," Interior Minister Arsen Avakov
said in a Facebook post Sunday that special forces of up to 12,000
people will be drawn from volunteers who will be tasked with resisting
attacks from pro-Russian forces in their local areas.
Ukraine crisis: Helicopter gunships take country closer to all-out war
Ukrainian
troops use helicopters to seize back airport held by pro-Russian
militiamen while ground forces gather around separatist stronghold of
Slovyansk
A
prolonged and increasingly vicious confrontation in eastern Ukraine has
turned into armed conflict as Ukrainian troops used helicopter gunships
to seize back an airport that had been held by pro-Russian militiamen.
The
attack at Kramatorsk came as ground forces with armour gathered around
Slovyansk, which had become a symbolic stronghold for well-armed
separatists.
At Kramatorsk, two of the aircraft carried out
strafing runs, before two others landed troops. Four people were
believed to have been injured, but claims of people killed, some of them
civilians, could not be verified.
A stand-off developed
afterwards, when protesters unfurled a banner saying “Shame on you! Go
back home” and shouting while the soldiers fired in the air. Eight miles
away the residents of Slovyansk marched towards their own small
airstrip. They were, they stated, doing so to protect it from “fascists
and Nazis” being flown in from the west of the country.
The
outbreak of fighting raised deep trepidation that Ukraine, which has
already lost Crimea to the Kremlin, could be entering into a civil war
which may lead to the intervention of Vladimir Putin, who has repeatedly
declared that he was prepared to act to protect ethnic Russians across
the border.
The Russian Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev,
warned “Ukraine is on the brink of civil war”, adding that he hoped the
Kiev administration had “enough brains” to avoid a catastrophic
escalation. He blamed the government in Kiev for creating a situation
where people felt they had no choice but to rise up for their rights.
Key
installations in 10 cities have now slipped out of the control of Kiev
and into the hands of protesters who are demanding a referendum on the
future of the country. Repeated ultimatums for the gunmen to surrender
have been ignored, severely damaging the credibility of the government.
As
evening fell the office of Ukraine’s acting President, Olexander
Turchynov, announced that the airfield had been captured in an
“anti-terrorist operation”. There were also claims that a number of
public buildings in the region had been retaken; but there was no
immediate verification of that on the ground.
The
operation at Kramatorsk appeared to be aimed at providing a landing site
for positioning forces on one approach to Slovyansk.
Airborne
forces, along with Ministry of Interior police units, were at Kamianka,
near Izyum, south east of Kiev, with armoured personnel carriers, light
artillery and transport helicopters. Further back, an armoured bulldozer
for clearing barricades had been parked near a hotel. General Vasily
Krutov, commander of Ukraine’s security service, SBU, was in no doubt
about the need for action or the identity of the enemy.
Police
officers huddle for safety under their riot shields after pro-Russian
activists overran the prosecutor's office in Donetsk (GETTY IMAGES) 
