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In Eastern Ukraine, Rebel Mockery Amid Independence Celebration In Eastern Ukraine, Rebel Mockery Amid Independence Celebration
(about 2 hours later)
DONETSK, Ukraine — On a day when Ukrainians celebrated their independence from the Soviet Union with parades and speeches, pro-Russian separatists in the eastern part of the country staged a grim counter-spectacle: a parade that mocked the national army and celebrated the death and imprisonment of its soldiers.DONETSK, Ukraine — On a day when Ukrainians celebrated their independence from the Soviet Union with parades and speeches, pro-Russian separatists in the eastern part of the country staged a grim counter-spectacle: a parade that mocked the national army and celebrated the death and imprisonment of its soldiers.
In Kiev, the national capital, the Ukrainian Army rolled armored personnel carriers through the streets, the soldiers saluting crisply to the president and crowds of cheering citizens. Leading the procession was an attractive young blond woman carrying an assault rifle, followed by several dozen captured Ukrainian soldiers: filthy, bruised and unkempt. Their heads were shaved, they wore fetid camouflage uniforms, and they looked down at their feet as they walked.
The main rebel group in eastern Ukraine, the Donetsk People’s Republic, put on an anti-independence day show in one of its most provocative public affronts to the Ukrainian government to date, parading captured Ukrainian soldiers on the streets even though the Geneva Conventions’ rules for treating prisoners of war prohibit parading them in public. Onlookers shouted that the men should be shot, and they pelted the prisoners with empty water bottles and rolls of toilet paper as they stumbled down Artyomovsk Street, Donetsk’s main thoroughfare. A loudspeaker played Tchaikovsky’s “Slavonic March,” a familiar Russian patriotic piece.
The suggestion of such a parade might have dissuaded the Ukrainians — who are dug in outside the city and have it in their sights — from firing an artillery strike on the provocative gathering. Behind the prisoners came two tank trucks spraying soapy water, demonstratively cleaning the pavement where the Ukrainian soldiers had passed.
But with destroyed tanks lined up in Lenin Square, the parade became the antithesis of a display of marshal glory, consisting of images of defeat and death, watched over by a gawking crowd of thrill seekers. People in the crowd shouted, “Fascists!” and “Perverts!” And separatist fighters held back a man who tried to punch a prisoner.
Onlookers peered into demolished, incinerated hulks of machinery destroyed in battle, their Ukrainian crews having met their deaths inside them. The public parading and abuse of the wounded, disheveled soldiers seemed to offend few of those watching the parade. “Shoot them!” one woman yelled.
Six armored personnel carriers, two artillery pieces and three trucks were also in Lenin Square. “They are attacking our city,” said Tonya Koralova, 46, a nurse who watched the men pass. “They are fascists. I am in favor of this parade.”
At one point, 100 or so separatist gunmen stood in front of a statue of Lenin, but then quickly fanned out to the surrounding neighborhoods as booms of artillery rattled the city. The anti-independence day parade staged by the main rebel group in eastern Ukraine, the Donetsk People’s Republic, was one of its most provocative public affronts to the Ukrainian government to date. It contrasted sharply with the traditional military parade in Kiev, the national capital, where soldiers from the national army crisply saluted the president and crowds of cheering citizens on Sunday.
The promise of a ghoulish spectacle drew a crowd. The rebels in Donetsk also displayed wrecked armored vehicles, lined up in the city’s Lenin Square. Together with the march of the prisoners, they made the event the macabre antithesis of a celebration of martial glory, as onlookers peered into the demolished, incinerated hulks where Ukrainian Army crews had met their deaths.
“I came to look at what they are attacking us with,” Oleg Kolpakov, 46, a plumber, said, eyeing the scorched hulks of armored personnel carriers. The Geneva Conventions’ rules for treating prisoners of war prohibit parading them in public.
Still, the main draw of the anti-independence parade, he said, would be the prisoners of war. Although Mr. Kolpakov said he opposed the idea of forcing them to walk through the streets, he added, “I’m curious what they look like.” The presence of the prisoners in the parade appeared intended to boost morale in the besieged city, to mock the Ukrainian Army and to dissuade the Ukrainian forces — who are dug in outside the city and have it in their sights — from firing any artillery rounds at the provocative gathering. The spectacle drew a crowd of several hundred people.
A separatist soldier standing nearby, who offered only his first name, Vitaly, said the goal was to show how humanely the prisoners were being treated. “We keep them on cots and feed them three times a day,” he said. But the prisoners were nowhere to be seen. Oleg Kolpakov, 46, a plumber, said he opposed the idea of forcing prisoners to walk through the streets, but wanted to watch all the same. “I’m curious what they look like,” he said.
After a man used a megaphone to urge the crowd to leave and return later in the afternoon for the “main events” to avoid spending hours waiting in the hot sun, most people drifted away. A separatist fighter standing nearby, who gave only his first name, Vitaly, said the point was to show how humanely the prisoners were being treated. “We keep them on cots and feed them three times a day,” he said.
Ukraine’s celebration on Sunday carried more significance than usual after the ouster of Viktor F. Yanukovych, the pro-Russian president, in February, followed by the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula by Russia and the outbreak of war with pro-Russian separatist groups in eastern Ukraine. The holiday on Sunday carried more significance than usual this year, following the ouster of Viktor F. Yanukovych, the pro-Russian former president, in February; the seizure and annexation of the Crimean Peninsula by Russia in March; and the outbreak of the pro-Russian separatist rebellion in eastern Ukraine in April.
“The events of the last months became for us a real war, though not a declared one,” Ukraine’s new president, Petro O. Poroshenko, said in a speech in Independence Square in Kiev. “It will possibly go down in history as our national war, the Fatherland War of 2014. It is a war against external aggression: for Ukraine, for its freedom, for honor and glory, for the people and for independence.” “The events of the last months became for us a real war, though not a declared one,” Ukraine’s president, Petro O. Poroshenko, said in a speech in Independence Square in Kiev. “It will possibly go down in history as our national war, the Patriotic War of 2014. It is a war against external aggression: for Ukraine, for its freedom, for honor and glory, for the people and for independence.”
Ukraine’s military, determined to reconquer eastern areas seized by rebels starting in April, has stepped up a drive to oust them from their last major strongholds, encircling the cities of Luhansk and Donetsk. Ukraine’s military has stepped up its drive to clear the rebels from their remaining major strongholds, encircling the cities of Luhansk and Donetsk. Earlier on Sunday, artillery pounded rebel-held towns including Donetsk, though it was unclear whether the military had intensified its fire for the symbolic holiday weekend or for other reasons. Ukrainian news media reported that more than 60 artillery volleys were fired overnight Saturday into Sunday.
Earlier on Sunday, artillery barrages pounded rebel-held towns, including Donetsk, though it was unclear whether the military had intensified the fire for the symbolic holiday weekend, or for other reasons. Ukrainian news media reported more than 60 artillery volleys were fired overnight Saturday into Sunday. In Donetsk, shells hit a morgue, a funeral home and a hospital shortly after 6 a.m., forcing the evacuation of a surgery ward into a basement but causing no injuries, officials said, though a body in the morgue was severely damaged.
In Donetsk, shells hit a hospital, a morgue and a funeral home shortly after 6 a.m. in a barrage that forced the evacuation of a surgery ward into a basement but caused no injuries, though a body in the morgue was severely damaged, officials said. In shelling on Saturday, at least five people died in Donetsk, the authorities said. An employee of the morgue said the body was blown apart. The building’s exterior was a tableau of broken glass, shattered masonry and downed electrical wires. The hospital is adjacent to a separatist garrison in a wooded area, which was apparently the target of the shelling. On Saturday, at least five people died in Donetsk because of shelling, the authorities said.
An employee of the morgue said the body had been blown apart. The exterior was a tableau of broken glass, shattered masonry and downed electrical wires. The hospital is adjacent to a separatist military garrison in a wooded area, apparently the target.