Russian flags fly as Ukraine’s hopes of control in east dashed
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A COLUMN of armored vehicles flying Russian flags drove into a Ukrainian city controlled by pro-Russians yesterday, dampening the central government’s hopes of re-establishing control over restive eastern Ukraine.
Still, it was far from clear just who these mostly masked men were and what their presence meant for eastern Ukraine, which has seen a surge of support for closer ties with Russia and against the new government in Kiev, which wants closer links to Europe.
Troops in camouflage sat atop the six vehicles as they entered the city of Slovyansk, a hotbed of unrest against Ukraine’s interim government.
Pro-Russians in the city last weekend seized police headquarters and the administration building, demanding broader autonomy for eastern Ukraine and closer ties with Russia. Their actions have been repeated in at least eight other cities in the east.
One of the men on the vehicles said they were Ukrainian soldiers who had defected to the pro-Russian side.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry issued a statement saying Ukrainian troops had entered Kramatorsk, south of Slovyansk, yesterday morning. There, residents and “members of Russian sabotage groups” seized six armored personnel vehicles and drove them to Slovyansk.
The military insisted the armed men seen on vehicles in Slovyansk were not Ukrainian forces but added “the whereabouts of the Ukrainian servicemen” had yet to be established.
Eastern Ukraine was the support base for ousted President Viktor Yanukovych, who fled to Russia after months of protests over his decision to back away from closer relations with the European Union and turn toward Russia. Opponents of the government that replaced him fear the new authorities will repress eastern Ukraine’s large Russian-speaking population.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Russian President Vladimir Putin late on Tuesday to discuss the situation in Ukraine and preparations for diplomatic talks in Geneva today.
Merkel’s office said she and Putin had “different assessments” of the events in Ukraine.
In Brussels, NATO announced it was immediately strengthening its military footprint along its eastern border in response to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said NATO aircraft will fly more sorties over the Baltic region and allied ships will deploy to the Baltic Sea, the eastern Mediterranean and elsewhere if needed.
NATO says Russia has up to 40,000 troops stationed near the border with Ukraine. Western nations and the new government in Kiev fear that Moscow will use the unrest as a pretext for invasion.
In Slovyansk, a city 100 miles from the border with Russia, the armored vehicles stopped near a government building and flew Russian flags while residents chanted: “Good job!”
Later, several hundred residents surrounded 14 Ukrainian armored vehicles at the train station in Pchyolkino, south of Slovyansk, fearing the troops had been sent to quell them. A Ukrainian who introduced himself as a general addressed the crowd, asking them to let the vehicles leave, but residents blocked them in.
In Kiev, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk told a Cabinet meeting: “Russia has got a new export now, apart from oil and gas. Russia is now exporting terrorism to Ukraine.”
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