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Ukrainian police remove pro-Russian forces in Kharkiv, while protesters in Donetsk dig in Tense stand-off in eastern Ukraine could shape country's future
(about 7 hours later)
DONETSK, Ukraine — Police removed pro-Russian demonstrators occupying a building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv early Tuesday, but protesters vowed not to relinquish their hold on the regional administrative center here in Donetsk. DONETSK, Ukraine — A dangerous face-off in eastern Ukraine between government forces and shadowy pro-Russian separatists appears more and more likely to determine whether the country can hold together — even without a Russian military invasion.
Police in Luhansk, another city in eastern Ukraine, said pro-Russian demonstrators who have seized the security agency headquarters are holding 60 hostages there at gunpoint. Authorities in Kiev insist that Russia is looking for a pretext to invade, and they are striving not to provide one.
The security agency, or SBU, said its investigators had discovered that the building has also been mined with explosives. But the tense status quo is unlikely to hold for long. Pro-Russia agitators allegedly are holding 60 hostages at gunpoint in the city of Luhansk, just a few miles from the Russian border, and protesters who have occupied the main government building here in Donetsk are digging in.
That raises the tension considerably in the high-stakes standoff between Ukrainian authorities and the pro-Russian forces that suddenly struck Sunday evening, in what appeared to be a coordinated move in cities across eastern Ukraine. The Russian government dismisses any suggestion that it intends to intervene and says Ukrainians should stop blaming Moscow for their problems.
In Kiev, the capital, government officials blamed Russia for stirring up the agitation as a prelude to an invasion. But Russian troops remain near the border conducting exercises, and Secretary of State John F. Kerry echoed the Ukrainian allegation that Russians are fomenting trouble.
Testifying before a U.S. Senate committee Tuesday, Secretary of State John F. Kerry also accused Russian agents of fomenting the chaos, and he warned of harsh new sanctions if Russia invades. “It is clear that Russian special forces and agents have been the catalyst behind the chaos of the last 24 hours,” Kerry said in testimony before a Senate committee. He said the unrest “could potentially be a contrived pretext for military intervention just as we saw in Crimea” and warned of harsh new sanctions if Russia invades.
“It is clear that Russian special forces and agents have been the catalyst behind the chaos of the last 24 hours,” Kerry said. He said the unrest “could potentially be a contrived pretext for military intervention just as we saw in Crimea.” Right-wing Russian nationalist groups have been seeking volunteers through social media to go to Ukraine, but it is not clear whether those appeals have borne fruit.
Kerry warned, “The United States and our allies will not hesitate to use 21st century tools to hold Russia accountable for 19th century behavior.” Pro-Russia protesters in three eastern Ukrainian cities simultaneously attacked government buildings Sunday night. In Kharkiv, they were ousted by police early Tuesday. But in Donetsk and in Luhansk, the separatists have held tight. They have declared a “people’s republic” but have made it clear that they favor Crimean-style annexation by Russia.
Here in Donetsk on Tuesday afternoon, more than a dozen passengers on a flight from Moscow were pulled aside at passport control, as Ukraine attempts to bar those it believes are causing trouble. In Luhansk, the state security agency, or the SBU, said that its investigators have discovered that separatists are holding about 60 hostages in the agency’s regional headquarters, which they seized Sunday, and that they have rigged the building with explosives.
The situation in Luhansk appeared to be the most critical. The security agency said it had discovered explosives and hostages when it sent in a team to try to clear the building of occupiers. “That means they act as terrorists,” the agency said on its Web site. “These actions are extremely dangerous as they pose threat to the lives of people in the room and to those who are outside. The Security Service of Ukraine demands that the attackers release the hostages, let them freely leave the building, and lay down their arms and clear the administration building.”
“That means they act as terrorists,” the SBU said on its Web site. “These actions are extremely dangerous as they pose threat to the lives of people in the room and to those who are outside. The Security Service of Ukraine demands that the attackers release the hostages, let them freely leave the building, and lay down their arms and clear the administration building.” The occupiers deny having hostages or explosives, according to the Reuters news agency.
Reuters quoted protesters in Luhansk denying that they were holding hostages or had explosives. Polarization, uncertainty
As evening fell in Donetsk and people got off from work, the crowd outside the occupied regional administration building swelled to a few thousand. Barricades of tires, automobile bumpers, barbed wire and sandbags rose around the perimeter of the 11-story late-Soviet slab of a building. Here in Donetsk on Tuesday afternoon, more than a dozen passengers on a flight from Moscow were pulled aside at passport control as Ukraine attempts to bar those it suspects of causing trouble.
The visible police presence was extremely light, and those officers present, in regular uniforms, made no effort to restrict access to the site. Women on the plaza in front of the building merrily chanted “We are here to the end” and “Donetsk is a Russian city.” As evening fell and people got off from work, the crowd outside the occupied regional administration building in the city swelled to a few thousand. Barricades of tires, automobile bumpers, barbed wire and sandbags rose along the perimeter of the 11-story late-Soviet slab of a building.
A group broke into song, belting out an old favorite from World War II about Katyusha rockets. Police presence appeared extremely light, and those officers present, in regular uniforms, made no effort to restrict access to the site. Women on the plaza in front of the building merrily chanted “Together we’re here to the end” and “Donetsk is a Russian city.”
But a block away, traffic moved as usual. This is not a city in the grip of secession fever — or anti-secession fever. On a warm spring afternoon, the playgrounds were full of children, couples strolled, shoppers shopped. Politics stops about 100 yards from the center of the action. A group broke into song, belting out a World War II favorite about Katyusha rockets.
Protesters were cleared overnight from the regional administration in Kharkiv, Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said. But a block away, traffic moved as usual. This is not a city in the grip of secession fever — or anti-secession fever. On a warm spring afternoon, the playgrounds were full of children, couples strolled, shoppers shopped. Politics stops about 100 yards from the center of the action.
And, yet, the fate of the country hangs in the balance.
Donetsk, about 50 miles west of the Russian border, has strong ties, economic and otherwise, to Russia, and distaste for the new government in Kiev runs strong here. But support for secession appears to be thin among the city’s 1 million residents.
On Monday evening, one of Ukraine’s richest men, the coal baron Rinat Akhmetov, met with protesters and, although expressing sympathy and support, urged them to talk with the Kiev government. He strongly denies allegations surfacing in the Ukrainian news media that he has helped finance the pro-Russia demonstrations.
Yet it’s difficult to know, as the two sides become more polarized, how the crisis might play out.
Protesters were cleared overnight from the regional administration building in Kharkiv, Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said.
“The Kharkiv night was infinitely long,” Avakov wrote on Facebook. He said protesters threw stun grenades at National Guard soldiers and set a fire in the building’s lobby. Firefighters put out the blaze.“The Kharkiv night was infinitely long,” Avakov wrote on Facebook. He said protesters threw stun grenades at National Guard soldiers and set a fire in the building’s lobby. Firefighters put out the blaze.
The West has been warning Russia, which annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in March, against any incursion into eastern Ukraine. “If Russia were to intervene further in Ukraine, it would be a historic mistake,” NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters Tuesday in Paris. “It would have grave consequences for our relationship with Russia and would further isolate Russia internationally.” The West has been warning Russia, which annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula last month, against any incursion into eastern Ukraine. “If Russia were to intervene further in Ukraine, it would be a historic mistake,” NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters Tuesday in Paris. “It would have grave consequences for our relationship with Russia and would further isolate Russia internationally.”
Russia blames U.S.
In Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday that the United States, not Russia, was responsible for sowing discord in Ukraine. “Our American partners are trying to assess the situation,” Lavrov told reporters, “applying their habits to others.”In Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday that the United States, not Russia, was responsible for sowing discord in Ukraine. “Our American partners are trying to assess the situation,” Lavrov told reporters, “applying their habits to others.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry charged that ultra-nationalists from Ukraine’s Right Sector movement and American mercenaries were among the police that Kiev sent to eastern Ukraine to quell the violence. The Russian Foreign Ministry charged that ultranationalists from Ukraine’s Right Sector movement and American mercenaries were among the police force Kiev sent to eastern Ukraine to quell the violence.
“We are particularly concerned that the operation involves some 150 American mercenaries from a private company Greystone Ltd., dressed in the uniform of the [Ukrainian] special task police unit Sokol,” the ministry said in a statement posted on its Web site Tuesday morning. It called for an immediate halt to “all military preparations which could lead to a civil war.”“We are particularly concerned that the operation involves some 150 American mercenaries from a private company Greystone Ltd., dressed in the uniform of the [Ukrainian] special task police unit Sokol,” the ministry said in a statement posted on its Web site Tuesday morning. It called for an immediate halt to “all military preparations which could lead to a civil war.”
Ukrainian officials denied that any mercenaries or irregular forces are at work in eastern Ukraine.Ukrainian officials denied that any mercenaries or irregular forces are at work in eastern Ukraine.
“There is no Right Sector, let alone U.S. security forces, in Kharkiv, Donetsk or Luhansk,” Serhiy Pashynsky, chief of the presidential administration in Kiev, said Tuesday. The Foreign Ministry issued a similar denial. “There is no Right Sector, let alone U.S. security forces, in Kharkiv, Donetsk or Luhansk,” Serhiy Pashynsky, chief of the presidential administration in Kiev, said Tuesday. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry issued a similar denial.
Earlier reports in Russian media identified Greystone as a subsidiary of the private security firm once known as Blackwater and later renamed Academi. Earlier reports in Russian news media identified Greystone as a subsidiary of the private security firm once known as Blackwater and later renamed Academi.
Two weeks ago, Russia’s Itar-Tass news agency quoted Ukrainian government security sources as saying they intended to hire private military personnel from Greystone “to suppress” the eastern, Russian-speaking regions of Ukraine. In early March, Russian state television reported that several hundred armed Greystone men had flown into the Kiev airport. Two weeks ago, Russia’s Itar-Tass news agency quoted Ukrainian government security sources as saying that they intended to hire private military personnel from Greystone “to suppress” the eastern, Russian-speaking regions of Ukraine. In early March, Russian state television reported that several hundred armed Greystone employees had flown into the Kiev airport.
A woman who answered the phone at the Chesapeake, Va., offices of Greystone declined to comment Tuesday. She would identify herself only as “an employee of Greystone.” A woman who answered the phone at the Chesapeake, Va., offices of Greystone declined to comment Tuesday. She identified herself only as “an employee of Greystone.”
In Washington, a senior Pentagon official told a House committee Tuesday that the United States is extending the stay of the destroyer USS Truxtun in the Black Sea and will send another ship to the Black Sea in a week. The Truxtun was dispatched last month to conduct training with the Romanian and Bulgarian navies, a mission scheduled before the Ukrainian crisis erupted. In Washington, a senior Pentagon official told a House committee Tuesday that the United States is extending the stay of the destroyer USS Truxtun in the Black Sea and will send another ship there in a week. The Truxtun was dispatched last month to conduct training with the Romanian and Bulgarian navies, a mission scheduled before the Ukraine crisis erupted.
Derek Chollet, U.S. assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, told the House Armed Services Committee that in response to a request from the Kiev government, 300,000 MREs, or meals ready to eat, have been delivered to the Ukrainian military, whose forces have been in the field for some time.
“While we do not seek military confrontation with Russia,” Chollet said, its “unlawful” takeover of Ukraine’s autonomous Crimea region last month and its continued “military threats” against its neighbors may cause the United States to reexamine its force posture in Europe.
The committee chairman, Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-Calif.), called the events in Ukraine “deeply troubling.” He cited reports that “Russia is provoking further unrest in eastern Ukraine and attempting to create a reason to invade.” He also said that “Russia is rearming at an alarming rate,” with military spending up 30 percent.
William Branigin and Christian Davenport in Washington contributed to this report.William Branigin and Christian Davenport in Washington contributed to this report.