Pro-Russians defy Kiev ultimatum
Print Edition
PRO-RUSSIAN separatists yesterday ignored an ultimatum to leave occupied government buildings in eastern Ukraine while another group of rebels attacked a police headquarters as a threatened military offensive by government forces failed to materialize.
Rebels in Slaviansk, which was expected yesterday to be the focus of a government “anti-terrorist” operation involving the army, issued a bold call for Russian President Vladimir Putin to help them.
Though he said yesterday that the offensive was going ahead, Ukraine’s interim president Oleksander Turchinov sacked the security chief in charge of the operation, signalling possible discord behind the scenes.
Turchinov also took a risky step to try to undercut rebel demands by holding out the prospect of a referendum on the future shape of the Ukrainian state. He suggested this could be held at the same time as a presidential election on May 25.
As the 9am deadline issued by Kiev expired in the flashpoint city of Slaviansk, where armed men had seized two government buildings, there were no signs that the rebels were obeying the ultimatum.
But one rebel leader, in an appeal that was issued through journalists, asked Putin to “help us as much as you can.”
Also in Slaviansk, about 150 kilometers from the Russian border, a small airfield occupied by Ukrainian air force planes on Sunday was empty yesterday and pro-separatist forces said they were now in control of it.
In the city of Horlivka, 100 pro-Russians attacked the police headquarters. Footage on Ukrainian television showed an ambulance treating people apparently injured in the attack.
In all, separatists have seized government buildings and security facilities in 10 cities.
Angered by the death of a state security officer and the wounding of two comrades near Slaviansk, Turchinov warned rebels that an anti-terrorist operation involving the army would begin unless they laid down their arms.
This warning from Kiev raised fears of possible Russian military intervention like that in Crimea, which Moscow finally annexed from Ukraine last month.
Turchinov said that Kiev was “not against” a nationwide referendum being held on the type of state Ukraine should be.
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