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Ukraine Military Clashes With Pro-Russia Militants in East Ukraine Sends Force to Stem Unrest in East
(about 7 hours later)
SLOVYANSK, Ukraine — The Ukrainian military stormed an airport 25 miles north of this city on Tuesday, beginning what the president called a military operation to confront pro-Russian militants in the eastern part of the country. SLOVYANSK, Ukraine — The Ukrainian military landed airborne troops at an airport about 25 miles south of here on Tuesday, raising tensions with Russia in the opening phase of what the government in Kiev called a wider military operation to confront pro-Russian militants in the eastern part of the country.
A column of armored personnel carriers flying the Ukrainian flag entered the airport late in the afternoon, local reporters there said. The Ukrainian soldiers quickly took control of the facility, driving the separatists outside the field’s perimeter. Later in the day, a column of armored personnel carriers flying Ukrainian flags approached Slovyansk from the north, parking for a time beside a highway and setting up a checkpoint. Of all the cities in the east, Slovyansk seemed to have fallen most completely under the control of pro-Russian separatists, who have erected massive defensive barricades outside the buildings they occupy.
At length the commander of the Ukranian operation, Gen. Vasily Krutov, approached the crowd of about 500 gathered behind a barbed wire fence to urge the militants to disperse, to little or no effect. As he was walking away he was roughed up, people in the crowd said, shoved hard enough that his hat fell off. The Ukrainian authorities said the movements were the first in a campaign to drive separatists from government buildings in as many as 10 cities in eastern Ukraine. The initial steps suggested that the government in Kiev, which had been hesitant to do anything to play into Moscow’s narrative that Russian-language speakers are in need of protection, was now willing to use the military to try to restore order in some places.
The situation, described by local reporters as a “mob scene,” persisted throughout the afternoon, with the crowd occasionally surging forward through breaks in the fence and soldiers firing into the ground. Two people were injured by the shots, people in the pro-Russian crowd said. In a conflict that has revealed deep, East-West fault lines, the White House praised the move as a measured step toward restoring law and order, while President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia told the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, in a phone call that he expected “clear condemnation” of the “anti-constitutional” operation by the international community. The Russian stock market fell by 3 percent on war jitters.
The military movements, which the Ukrainian authorities said were the first in a campaign to drive separatists from government buildings in as many as 10 cities in eastern Ukraine, suggested that Kiev had overcome fears that a strong military response could quickly lead to heavy civilian casualties and play into Moscow’s narrative that Russian-speakers are in need of protection. At the small military air base in the town of Kramatorsk, Ukrainian soldiers quickly took control, holding at bay separatists who had surrounded the field’s perimeter, which is guarded by a barbed wire fence. At some point the commander of the operation, Gen. Vasily Krutov, left the base to speak to a crowd of protesters numbering about 500 to urge them to disperse. But the crowd remained hostile, and when he turned to head back to the base he was roughed up, people in the crowd said, shoved hard enough that his hat fell off.
Reinforcing that concern, Russian television broadcast images of helicopters and warplanes in the vicinity of the airport, which separatists seized on Sunday. Russian news media, citing members of the armed opposition to Kiev, reported that several members of a pro-Russian militia had been injured at the airfield in firefights with the Ukrainian military. Later, Russian news media reported four fatalities in the vicinity of the airport. The crowd outside the air base then insulted and taunted the soldiers inside. “Guys, fly home, we didn’t invite you here,” one man yelled.
The Russian Foreign Ministry released a statement Tuesday saying it was “deeply concerned” by the reports on Russian television, which could not be independently confirmed. Russia’s prime minister, Dmitri A. Medvedev, said on Facebook that “Ukraine is on the brink of civil war — it’s frightening.” He warned the authorities in Kiev of “terrible turmoil” if they continued to press the attack. The situation, described by local reporters as a “mob scene,” persisted into the early evening, with the crowd occasionally surging forward through a gap in the fence and soldiers firing into the ground in front of those who approached too close. Members of the crowd said that at least two people were wounded by the shots.
General Krutov confirmed late Tuesday afternoon that Ukrainian forces had begun carrying out military operations in the area, including the retaking of the airfield. After his statements, masked gunmen at checkpoints in the city prohibited civilian vehicles from leaving Slovyansk, citing Ukrainian military movements on the highway outside the city. Russian television — which has consistently sought to play up grievances by pro-Russian activists who the West says are a tool of Russian intelligence — introduced its evening broadcast by announcing, “The illegal, criminal government in Kiev launches a war against its own people.”
In Slovyansk, an ambulance with its siren wailing drove out of the city on the road toward the airfield. It repeatedly broadcast images of helicopters and a single warplane in the vicinity of the airport, where separatists had set up a roadblock outside the main entrance on Sunday. The Russian news media, citing members of the armed opposition to the government in Kiev, reported that several members of a pro-Russian militia had been wounded at the airfield in firefights with the Ukrainian military. Later, it also reported four fatalities in the vicinity of the airport.
Seemingly poking the Kremlin in the eye, the head of the Ukrainian National Security Council, Andriy Parubiy, sent out a message on Twitter saying that veterans of the uprising in Kiev, many of whom were members of right-wing nationalist groups, were poised to join the fight. “Reserve unit of National Guard formed from #Maidan Self-defense volunteers was sent to the front line this morning,” he wrote. The Russian Foreign Ministry released a statement on Tuesday saying it was “deeply concerned” by the reports of casualties, which could not be independently confirmed and were denied even by pro-Russian activists at the airport.
The first indication that the operation represented more than just words this time was a modest Ukrainian military checkpoint established on a highway north of the town of Slovyansk, which has been controlled by militants since Saturday. The checkpoint the Ukrainian military established on a highway north of Slovyansk provided a further sign that the operation this time represented more than just words. Speaking to reporters following the armored column, General Krutov delivered a sharp warning to any gunmen on the road ahead, saying, “They must be warned that if they do not lay down their arms, they will be destroyed.”
Witnesses said a dozen armored personnel carriers with Ukrainian flags parked on the highway about 25 miles north of the city. There were no credible reports of confrontations with the well-armed and apparently Russian-backed forces in the town. While there were no credible reports of casualties or even any sustained firefights, General Krutov later told The Associated Press that his forces had repelled a force of 30 men in green uniforms without insignia, shorthand for the unmarked Russian regulars who infiltrated and overran Crimea.
“On Tuesday morning, in the north of Donetsk region, an antiterrorist operation began,” the Ukrainian speaker of Parliament and acting president, Oleksandr V. Turchynov, told Parliament in the capital, Kiev. “It will be carried out in stages, and responsibly and in a balanced manner. The goal is the defense of citizens of Ukraine.” The protesters at the airport said in interviews that they felt no allegiance or kinship to the government in Kiev and wanted to go their own way.
Mr. Turchynov, who has asserted in recent days that Russian soldiers have joined the Ukrainian militants who have seized police stations and the entire town of Slovyansk, said the country was confronting a “colossal danger” but offered the assurance that “there will be no civil war.” “After Maidan, the east of Ukraine felt outside the political process,” said Vyachislav Filken, 47, a construction worker in the crowd, referring to the Kiev square where the uprising that led to a new government unfolded. “They wanted to put in their president and didn’t ask us.”
In a nod to the wide backing for pro-Russian groups here and in other parts of the east, Mr. Turchynov said that, “along with the Russian special forces and the terrorists there are hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian citizens in the Donbass who were tricked by Russian propaganda.” The Donbass is a coal-mining region that includes the city of Donetsk. Mr. Filken said that he wanted Ukraine to grant eastern regions autonomy, but that local people now felt emboldened and might demand simply to join Russia, as he said residents of Crimea had.
The appearance of the Ukrainian Army in the east of the country and the looming threat of war that it carried sent the Russian stock market down by three percent on Tuesday. Another said, “We want to live apart and be the bosses in our own land.”
The Ukrainian troops were not yet moving on Slovyansk as of early Tuesday evening. Ahead of them, scores of armed men maintained their hold on the police and domestic security service building and the City Hall. They have barricaded the roads and, locals say, placed snipers on roofs. After the operation began, masked gunmen at checkpoints in the city prohibited civilian vehicles from leaving Slovyansk through a main checkpoint, citing Ukrainian military movements on the highway outside the city. Cars were allowed out by side roads.
And yet the town remained crowded with people milling about the streets and standing at protests in front of barricades, illustrating that an overly assertive Ukrainian military response could quickly lead to heavy civilian casualties and play into Moscow’s narrative that Russian-speakers are in need of protection. The Ukrainian speaker of Parliament and acting president, Oleksandr V. Turchynov, told Parliament in Kiev that the operation “will be carried out in stages, and responsibly and in a balanced manner.”
In a sign of the heightened tension, Ukraine seemed to teeter toward a run on bank deposits on Monday. The central bank was compelled to raise one of its key interest rates from 6.5 percent to 9.5 percent to slow the rapid slide of the national currency, the hryvnia, as people withdrew deposits and converted savings into hard currency. The sliding currency also accelerated inflation by increasing the costs of imported goods, exacerbating the difficulties faced by residents in the east, who complain that the new government is mismanaging the economy. He added, “The goal is the defense of citizens of Ukraine.”
Mr. Turchynov, who has asserted in recent days that Russian soldiers have joined the Ukrainian militants who have seized police stations and the entire town of Slovyansk, said the country was confronting a “colossal danger,” but offered the assurance that “there will be no civil war.”
In a nod to the wide backing for pro-Russian groups here and in other parts of the east, Mr. Turchynov said that “along with the Russian special forces and the terrorists there are hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian citizens in the Donbass who were tricked by Russian propaganda.” The Donbass is a coal-mining region that includes the city of Donetsk.
While making his case, however, Mr. Turchynov was undermined by the head of the Ukrainian National Security Council, Andriy Parubiy, who sent out a message on Twitter saying that veterans of the uprising in Kiev, many of whom were members of right-wing nationalist groups, were poised to join the fight. “Reserve unit of National Guard formed from #Maidan Self-defense volunteers was sent to the front line this morning,” he wrote.
In the town, scores of armed men kept their hold on the City Hall and the police and domestic security service building. They have barricaded roads and, residents say, placed snipers on roofs.
In a sign of the heightened tension, Ukraine seemed to teeter toward a run on bank deposits on Monday. The central bank was compelled to raise one of its key interest rates to 9.5 percent from 6.5 percent to slow the rapid slide of the national currency, the hryvnia, as people withdrew deposits and converted savings into hard currency. The sliding currency also accelerated inflation by increasing the costs of imported goods, exacerbating the difficulties faced by residents in the east, who complain that the new government is mismanaging the economy.