There’s reports of heavy
gunfire between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian government
forces as the latter initiates a “full-scale
anti-terrorist operation.”
After a week of armed occupations of government buildings, bomb
threats, and hostage takings by pro-Russian separatists, Ukraine’s
government announced late yesterday evening that the deadline to
disarm has passed. Interim President Oleksandr Turchynov
said, “Tonight an anti-terrorist operation began in the north
of Donetsk [region]. It will be conducted step-by-step,
responsibly, deliberately. The goal of these actions, I want to
underline, is to defend the citizens of Ukraine.”
The Kyiv Post
reports on the latest development that Ukrainian troops
recaptured an airbase in Donetsk around 6:30p.m. local time, which
is near the Russian border and is Ukraine’s most populous region.
Four separatists were killed in the skirmish. Writing live updates,
the Post highlights:
5:54 p.m. First Deputy Prime Minister Vitaliy Yarema said
several hundred armed Russian military soldiers are in Luhansk,
Donetsk and Kharkiv oblasts who were covertly and gradually sent
there over a long period of time …. “Right now, they’ve
concentrated their strength in Krasniy Lyman, Horlivka, Kramatorsk
and Slovyansk (all in Donetsk Oblast); the terrorists are
committing violent acts against police officers and are taking over
government buildings,” said Yarema.2:14 p.m. Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Petro Mehed said
that his ministry has mobilized more than 90 percent of its
resources, and activated 23 [regional] militia commissaries in
response to the growing threat in the east.
CNN
writes that “a National Guard battalion made up of 350 troops
was sent to the Donetsk region from Kiev on Tuesday morning” and
that “a CNN team… encountered a large Ukrainian military column
traveling on roads leading from the city of Donetsk toward other
towns in the region.”
The militarized separatist forces have seized buildings in
10 localities. These include administrative buildings, police
headquarters, and arms depots. They are demanding referendums for
secession. Although the majority of residents in the east
favor a unified Ukraine and the militants number only in the
hundreds, they have have the same professional training as the
masked forces that destabilized Crimea. An audio track
purportedly caught separatists communicating with a
“coordinator” in Russia “discussing strategy, weapon stockpiles,
and requests for reinforcements.”
NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen
called on Russia to “stop being part of the problem and start
being part of the solution.” The European Union is imposing
new sanctions and the U.S. is
considering more as well.
Read more Reason coverage of Ukraine here.
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