Russia blames Kiev for new violence in eastern Ukraine
Russia blames Kiev for new violence in eastern Ukraine
(about 5 hours later)
MOSCOW — Russia blamed authorities in Kiev on Monday for the violence in eastern Ukraine, accusing them of trying to ignite a civil war in a region where pro-Russian militants have been defying the central government.
MOSCOW — Russia warned Monday that Ukraine’s government is igniting a civil war in the eastern regions of the country, and it said that Moscow is prepared to step in if those efforts do not stop.
The warning came as Vice President Biden arrived Monday in the Ukrainian capital for a two-day visit to meet with political leaders, civil society groups and U.S. diplomats. He is bringing U.S. economic assistance, as well as warnings to Russian President Vladimir Putin that future intervention in Ukraine’s volatile east will incur new costs.
In Ukraine, officials said Moscow has already stepped in — and that is the problem. Mounting photographic evidence suggests that Russian special forces have been active in eastern Ukraine for at least the past week, in support of pro-Russian militants.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow will intervene if bloodshed continues — even as Ukrainian officials accuse Russia of stirring it up. On Sunday, three people were killed in a shootout in the eastern Ukrainian city of Slovyansk.
And residents in the restive regions who are opposed to Russia were beginning to speak out Monday against Moscow.
“There has been a surge in appeals to Russia to save them from this outrage,” Lavrov told a news conference here, invoking a time-honored Russian rationale for military intervention in another country. “We are being put into an extremely complex position.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s warning about Russian intervention was the most explicit declaration yet of his country’s intentions toward eastern Ukraine. It came as Vice President Biden arrived in Kiev for a two-day visit to meet with political leaders, civil society groups and U.S. diplomats.
“Those who are deliberately pursuing a civil war, in a possible attempt to start a big, serious bloody conflict, are pursuing a criminal policy. And we will not only condemn this policy but will also stop it.”
Biden brought a commitment of American economic assistance. He also threw a warning back at the Russians: Future intervention in Ukraine’s volatile east, he said, will incur new costs.
Lavrov said Kiev was “flagrantly” disregarding its obligations under an agreement reached Thursday in Geneva. Russia demands that a protest camp at Kiev’s Independence Square, known as the Maidan, be disbanded before further steps toward a resolution can be taken, he said. The square was the epicenter of protests against pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych, who was ousted in February, and Moscow regards persistent demonstrations there as a pernicious influence on the new Ukrainian government.
But the Russian threats held out the possibility that Moscow will be on the move — and soon.
“Those who are deliberately pursuing a civil war, in a possible attempt to start a big, serious bloody conflict, are pursuing a criminal policy,” Lavrov said. “And we will not only condemn this policy, but will also stop it.”
A tentative agreement reached Thursday in Geneva by Ukraine, Russia, the European Union and the United States has gained very little traction. The armed pro-Russian forces in the east have not abandoned the buildings they have occupied, as the pact called for.
Geoffrey Pyatt, the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, said Monday evening that Washington wants to see movement under the accord in “days, not weeks.”
Lavrov, in contrast, lashed out at the new Ukrainian government for “flagrantly” refusing to dismantle the protest camp at Kiev’s Independence Square, known as the Maidan, nearly 350 miles west of the disputed regions. It was the epicenter of the months-long protest against the now-ousted President Viktor Yanukovych. Lavrov demanded that it be dispersed at once as a prerequisite of further de-escalation.
On Sunday, three people were killed in a shootout in the eastern Ukrainian city of Slovyansk. Lavrov said the residents of the Donetsk region craved Russian protection.
“There has been a surge in appeals to Russia to save them from this outrage,” he told a news conference here, invoking a time-honored Russian rationale for military intervention in another country. “We are being put into an extremely complex position.”
As Russia shook its fist, citizens in eastern Ukraine who want to remain unified under a central government in Kiev began to publicly oppose the pro-Russian agitators.
In the port of Mariupol and the industrial city of Khartsyzk, residents staged some of the first “pro-unity” rallies in the area.
Protected by a low-key police presence, businessman Vyacheslav Redko stood before a crowd in front of the Soviet-era Palace of Culture in Khartsyzk and demanded that authorities take down the Russian flag now flying above the city hall and remove the barricade of tires at the entrance.
“It is a myth that everyone here wants to join our big brother Russia,” Redko said afterward. “But our side has not been heard, because people are scared or intimidated or they assume they cannot win.”
Redko said he was surprised to see a few hundred of his neighbors at the rally. He would have been happy with a few dozen. “For Khartsyzk? This is a big deal,” he said.
A dozen people mounted the steps of the palace. One elderly pensioner sang a popular Ukrainian folk song. A retired teacher of Russian literature complained that his former students, now pro-Russian activists, had roughed him up for supporting Ukrainian unity.
“We’re afraid of a war with Putin. We know his troops are on the border. But I think the more people see that they are not alone, the bigger these rallies will become,” said Lyudmila Pogromskaya, an English language instructor.
In Slovyansk, “the people’s mayor” Vladimir Ponomaryov told Russian reporters that self-defense militia members in the city have detained 20 people suspected of spying for Kiev. One of those was Ukrainian journalist and activist Irma Krat, who was shown on Russian TV blindfolded and being escorted by local militia.
He also said that two bodies have been pulled from the river that runs through the city. Members of the pro-Russian group Donestk People’s Republic, the victims, had been stabbed to death, he said. It was not possible to confirm the mayor’s claim.
Biden is the most senior administration official to visit Ukraine since its crisis with Russia began two months ago, leading to Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s autonomous Crimea region in March.
Biden is the most senior administration official to visit Ukraine since its crisis with Russia began two months ago, leading to Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s autonomous Crimea region in March.
A senior American official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the trip in advance, said the vice president would announce a new U.S. technical support package aimed at boosting Ukraine’s economy, energy sector and political reform efforts in the run-up to presidential and mayoral elections next month. The official said Biden will emphasize national unity heading into the May 25 vote.
The challenge presented by pro-Russian groups in eastern Ukraine has become “the most acute” facing Ukraine’s leadership, said a senior American official traveling with Biden, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the trip in advance.
Under the Geneva agreement, which has the approval of the United States and the European Union, armed groups are supposed to vacate the buildings they have seized. But in eastern Ukraine, there has been no movement so far in that direction.
“There are currently ongoing threats to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the most effective response to that is for all of Ukraine to pull together,” the American official said.
Lavrov also took a shot at Washington on Monday, saying there was no way Russia could be effectively isolated. Concerning Ukraine, he said, he prefers to listen to the “grown-up” voices of European nations.
Biden, according to the official, “will call for urgent implementation of the agreement reached in Geneva last week while also making clear, as we have done in recent weeks, the cost to Russia if it fails to de-escalate.”
In Rostov-on-Don, Yanukovych called for a series of regional referendums on federalization of the country before presidential and parliamentary elections are held.
Pyatt said Ukrainians “are now wondering what comes next, and are looking for reassurance that the United States is going to stand by Ukraine.”
Otherwise, Ukraine risks civil war, he said in a statement released Monday to news agencies. The referendums should be held with an international system of control and observation, he said.
The vice president is expected to announce a new U.S. technical support package aimed at boosting Ukraine’s economy, energy sector and political reform efforts in the run-up to presidential and mayoral elections next month.
In the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, just over the border from Ukraine, Yanukovych called Monday for a pullback of Ukrainian forces from the east and the holding of a series of regional referendums on federalization of the country before presidential and parliamentary elections are held.
Otherwise, Ukraine risks civil war, he said in a statement released to news agencies. The referendums should be held with an international system of control and observation, he said.
“This is the only way to preserve the integrity of Ukraine,” his statement said. “If this is not done, our country will be threatened with fragmentation, which would hardly be a peaceful process. A civil war would be more likely. Come back to your senses! You are setting brother against brother, while somebody else would take advantage of this disaster.”
“This is the only way to preserve the integrity of Ukraine,” his statement said. “If this is not done, our country will be threatened with fragmentation, which would hardly be a peaceful process. A civil war would be more likely. Come back to your senses! You are setting brother against brother, while somebody else would take advantage of this disaster.”
Addressing Ukrainian troops and security forces, he urged them not to follow “criminal orders,” presumably from the new authorities in Kiev.
Booth reported from Slovyansk. Wilson reported from Kiev.
“They want to use you; they want you to shed people’s blood and then blame you for this blood,” he said. “You definitely realize that this is the way it would be. Don’t cross the line.”
Sunday’s shootings, at a checkpoint manned by a pro-Russian militia outside Slovyansk, marked the worst violence since the Geneva meeting. The violence erupted just hours after Ukraine’s government declared an Easter truce.
The new mayor of Slovyansk begged Putin to send “peacekeepers” to protect the people.
Ukraine’s leaders fear that Putin is looking for any excuse to take more direct action in the nation’s east, where many residents speak Russian and distrust the central authorities in Kiev. The Security Service of Ukraine called Sunday’s attack a “cynical provocation” staged by pro-Russian elements.
“President Putin has a dream to restore the Soviet Union, and every day he goes further and further, and God knows where is the final destination,” Ukraine’s prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” The United States says that about 40,000 Russian troops are gathered along Russia’s border with Ukraine.
The violence came as celebrants across eastern Ukraine streamed into churches and visited historic monasteries to renew flagging spirits and to have monks bless with holy water their covered baskets containing hard-boiled eggs, sweet breads and, often, a bottle of wine.
Yet crowds were thin at the Sviatohirsk monastery on the banks of the Seversky Donets River, a 30-minute drive north of where the firefight occurred. Where usually thousands would gather to receive the Easter blessing, there were a few hundred on Sunday morning.
“People don’t know what tomorrow will be, and so we’re just happy to stay close to home,” said Sergiy, an office worker, who came to the Russian Orthodox church in downtown Donetsk rather than drive to the countryside. He declined to give his full name because of the sensitivity of the political situation.
He cited checkpoints in the area as a good reason not to venture too far.
Ukraine’s Interior Ministry said Sunday’s clash involved two groups fighting over a makeshift barricade of tires and barbed wire north of Slovyansk at about 3 a.m.
Police in Slovyansk told Russia’s Interfax news agency that the three dead men belonged to the “Donetsk People’s Republic,” a political and militia group composed of separatists and others who oppose the Kiev government. The police said the men who attacked the checkpoint fled.
One of those killed was a 60-year-old bus driver, according to the Kiev Post newspaper.
It was difficult to independently establish who fought against whom. The Kiev government’s declaration of an Easter truce had raised hopes that both sides would refrain from violence on the holiday.
New round of finger-pointing
The shooting stirred passions in Ukraine, where armed militias opposed to the Kiev government have taken over police stations and city halls in a cluster of eastern cities close to the Russian border.
Moscow quickly took the side of the pro-Russia activists. In a statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry said “innocent civilians” were attacked by “militants” from an ultra-nationalist, far-right organization called Right Sector, which emerged as a paramilitary group during protests in Kiev that ousted Yanukovych and ushered in a pro-Western government.
“The Russian side is enraged by the militant provocation,” the Foreign Ministry declared, accusing Kiev of failing to disarm “nationalists and extremists.”
The Russians said locals had discovered weapons, aerial maps and Right Sector paraphernalia at the scene.
A spokesman for the group said it played no part in the clash and accused Russian special forces and intelligence officers of staging a provocation.
In a statement, the Security Service of Ukraine said the violence was orchestrated by pro-Russia elements trying to stir up trouble. It said evidence was planted at the scene, including new $100 bills, the business card of an ultra-nationalist leader and a World War II-era gun.
Ukrainian officials have expressed concern that Putin’s government may move military forces into eastern Ukraine, as it did in Crimea, another area with linguistic and historical ties to Russia.
Hours after the shooting, the mayor of Slovyansk, Vyacheslav Ponomarev, pleaded for help from Putin.
“Fascists and imperialists are trying to conquer us by killing and injuring civilians,” Ponomarev said. “They want to make slaves of us.”
Pro-Russia separatists have refused to abide by the settlement reached last week in Geneva. It offers a general amnesty to those who surrender their weapons and abandon public buildings that have been occupied in recent weeks.
It was difficult for non-Russian journalists to reach the site of the clash Sunday. One group of reporters, including a Washington Post correspondent, was turned back by an armed man. Checkpoints that were staffed last week by unarmed members of a pro-Russia militia now featured men with sidearms and rifles.
Photographs taken at the scene of the clash showed two burned vehicles pocked with bullet holes.
One of the men staffing the checkpoint said he and his companions were celebrating Easter in the early-morning hours when unknown men drove up in four vehicles and opened fire, according to the Associated Press.
“We began to shoot back from behind the barricades, and we threw molotov cocktails at them,” Yuri Zhadobin, who coordinates the pro-Russia group, told the AP.
‘Psychological stress’
That the attack occurred during Easter celebrations has shaken Ukrainians.
“After Easter, we have hopes for a political change, an end to this psychological stress,” said Lilya, a 37-year-old accountant visiting the monastery at Nikolskoe.
She said that she favored some kind of federation that would give the region more independence from Kiev but that she didn’t think it should necessarily become a part of Russia.
“It’s all so complicated,” she said, declining to give her last name because of the delicate political situation.
The monastery she was visiting was founded by the monk Zosima, who was said to be a miracle worker and who died in 2002.
Because Zosima had been the confessor and spiritual adviser of Yanukovych, the ousted president, opposition leaders said they suspected that Yanukovych came to hide in the monastery after he was overthrown.
Father Pheophan, the monk in charge of security, said this was not true and was simply another rumor in a country full of rumors.
As he stood beneath rows of icons painted in gold and contemplated the conflict in eastern Ukraine, the monk said, “You look around the countryside, you see lots of monuments from the Second World War? We had a lot of heroes, a lot of fighting. We like to think that nobody can put the people of Donetsk on their knees.”
Booth reported from Slovyansk. Alex Ryabchyn in Nikolskoe and Katie Zezima in Washington contributed to this report.
