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Pro-Moscow rebels force Ukraine retreat in battle for key airport stronghold Pro-Moscow rebels force Ukraine retreat in battle for key airport stronghold
(about 3 hours later)
MOSCOW— The Ukrainian army retreated Thursday from key airport strongholds in the country’s conflict-battered eastern region, handing a symbolic gain for pro-Russian rebels amid a surge in violence that threatens to further unravel peace efforts. MOSCOW— The Ukrainian army retreated Thursday from key strongholds at the Donetsk airport, an epicenter of fighting in the country’s conflict-battered eastern region, handing a symbolic gain to pro-Russian rebels amid a surge of violence that threatens to further unravel peace efforts.
The clashes at the Donetsk airport are part of escalating tensions in Ukraine amid a disintegrating cease-fire and accusations by Ukraine’s Western-allied government that Russia has sent forces over the border to bolster the insurgents. Tensions in Ukraine have escalated since the start of the new year to levels that NATO's top commander said he has not seen since summer, before government troops and pro-Russian rebels signed a cease-fire agreement — an accord rendered ineffective by the recent surge in violence. Ukraine’s Western-allied government has also leveled new charges that Russia has sent forces over the border to bolster the insurgents.
Moscow denied the claims and traded accusations with Ukraine over which side was responsible for the latest bloodshed in the region: At least 13 people killed at a bus stop in Donetsk after being hit by a mortar shell early Thursday. Moscow denied the claims and traded accusations with Ukraine on Thursday over which side was responsible for the deaths of at least 13 people at a Donetsk bus stop that was hit by a mortar shell early Thursday.
Mounting battles — including the showdown over the airport — have raised concern that rebels could be pressing offensives that could eventually undermine efforts to quell the violence that began last year. Ukraine’s pro-Russian factions have opposed moves to strengthen the country’s bonds with the European Union. The bloody developments came as Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France held negotiations Wednesday night in Berlin, where leaders reported they had agreed on the line from which Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian rebels would withdraw their heavy weapons.
Ukraine and its allies charge that the rebels’ recent moves are aimed at scooping up extra territory.
U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry accused "Russian-backed separatists" Wednesday of engaging in "a very blatant land grab" that violates the terms of the cease-fire agreement struck in Minsk in September.
U.S. Air Force Gen. Philip M. Breedlove, NATO's top commander, told reporters Thursday that "Russian-backed forces" had "moved the line of contact to the west." He also said NATO had observed markers of air and electronic weapons systems "that have accompanied past Russian troop movements into Ukraine." But he could not yet put a figure on how many Russian weapons and troops had recently crossed the border.
[Related: Ukraine parliament votes to take step toward NATO.]
On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that Russia has sent 9,000 troops into Ukraine.
The Ukrainian military, meanwhile, described its retreat from the Donetsk airport's new terminal as a tactical move — not an admission of defeat. The terminal was constructed ahead of the Euro 2012 soccer championship, but it has been largely destroyed during months of fighting.
(Related:Ukraine parliament votes to take step toward NATO)(Related:Ukraine parliament votes to take step toward NATO)
The Donetsk airport has emerged as the epicenter of near-constant battles. The new terminal — built ahead of the Euro 2012 soccer championship co-hosted by Ukraine — had been controlled by Ukrainian forces. It was abandoned after a series of fierce rebel attacks that destroyed much of the building and caused dozens of casualties.
“Because this building was reduced to rubble, the decision was taken to withdraw Ukrainian fighters from this building to new lines,” military spokesman Vladislav Seleznyov told reporters in Kiev on Thursday.“Because this building was reduced to rubble, the decision was taken to withdraw Ukrainian fighters from this building to new lines,” military spokesman Vladislav Seleznyov told reporters in Kiev on Thursday.
He said six soldiers had died in the clashes at the airport, and another 16 had been taken captive by pro-Russian rebels. He said six Ukrainian soldiers were killed in the clashes at the airport and 16 others were captured by pro-Russian rebels. At least one captive soldier was taken to the scene of the bus stop shelling in Donetsk on Thursday and paraded before angry residents in scenes shown on Russian state television.
The development comes as Ukrainian officials raised new charges that Russia has resumed sending troops to reinforce the rebels. [Related: Russia’s response to Obama: ‘U.S. intends to dominate the world.’]
During a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that Russia had sent 9,000 troops into eastern Ukraine.
Russia has routinely denied the accusations. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters Wednesday that Ukraine needed to “show us the facts.”
But NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg appeared to lend credence to Ukrainian claims, telling reporters that “for several months, we have seen the presence of Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, and we’ve also seen a substantial increase in the number of Russian heavy equipment in eastern Ukraine.”
(Related: Russia’s response to Obama: ‘U.S. intends to dominate the world’)(Related: Russia’s response to Obama: ‘U.S. intends to dominate the world’)
The loss of the airport would mark a symbolic victory for the rebels, who have made the site a key goal for its fighters. Col. Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council Information Center, suggested that the battle was not over.
Ukrainian’s military spokesman, Col. Andriy Lysenko, suggested the battle was not over. “We cannot say that we have completely withdrawn from the airport — this is a battlefield at the moment,” he told reporters. “Our military is not withdrawing, is not retreating.”
“We cannot say that we have completely withdrawn from the airport – this is a battlefield at the moment,” he told reporters. “Our military is not withdrawing, is not retreating.” But the commander of the Azov battalion, a volunteer unit of the Ukrainian army at the Donetsk airport, declared the airport “lost” on the battalion’s Facebook page.
But the commander of the Azov battalion, a volunteer unit of the Ukrainian army at the Donetsk airport, declared the airport “lost” on the battalion’s Facebook account. “The heroic defense continued for 242 days,” the battalion said. “That is longer than the defense of Stalingrad and Moscow during the Soviet-German war; it is longer than a whole war can last, sometimes.”
“The heroic defense continued for 242 days,” the battalion wrote on its Facebook page. “That is longer than the defense of Stalingrad and Moscow during the Soviet-German war, it is longer than a whole war can last, sometimes.” The loss of the airport would be a symbolic victory for the rebels, who have made securing the site a key goal.
Ukrainian officials, meanwhile, blamed the rebels for the attack on the bus stop – adding that Russia bore responsibility for preventing such tragedies. It was not immediately clear whether the site was hit by a single shell or part of a barrage. Ukrainian officials blamed the rebels for the attack on the bus stop. Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said that "the responsibility for it should be borne by the Russian Federation."
The separatist-run Donetsk News Agency cited officials as saying the shell was fired from a portable 82-millimeter caliber mortar. That type of weapon suggested the fire came from rebel-held territory, the Associated Press reported, but there was no confirmed location for its source. Pro-Russian rebels initially claimed the shelling was "an act of sabotage" and that they had apprehended the people responsible for the attack, according to the Russian news service Interfax.
The AP, citing local officials, said the death toll was 13. Alexander Zakharchenko, head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, later offered a new explanation, according to Interfax, telling reporters that the bus stop was struck by artillery fire coming from Avdiivka, a town in the Donetsk region where the Ukrainian military said it has been fending off attacks from pro-Russian rebels.
“The tragedy at the bus stop in Donetsk is our common grief,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said in a Twitter post. “Peaceful Ukrainians are dying because of such terrorist attacks. Russia must stop the terrorists.” It was not immediately clear whether the site was hit by a single shell or part of a barrage.
Pro-Russian rebels initially claimed the shelling was an “act of sabotage” and that the people responsible for the attack had already been detained, according to Russian news service Interfax. The separatist-run Donetsk News Agency cited officials as saying the shell was fired from a portable 82mm mortar. That type of weapon suggested the fire came from rebel-held territory, the Associated Press reported, but there was no confirmed location for its source.
But self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic head Alexander Zakharchenko later offered a new explanation, according to Interfax, telling reporters at the scene that “it was not saboteurs who did it” and said the bus stop was struck by artillery fire coming from Avdiivka, a town in the Donetsk region. The AP, citing local officials, said the death toll was 13. The United Nations estimates that more than 4,700 people have been killed in the fighting since April.
Avdiivka has been under Ukrainian military control for months, but commanders say they face frequent fire from pro-Russian separatists. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called for an independent investigation of the attack but blamed Kiev “and its foreign patrons.” He charged that the attack was a “crime against humanity” and a “gross provocation aimed at undermining efforts at a peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian crisis.”
Russia's foreign minister Lavrov blamed Kiev “and its foreign patrons,” claiming that the attack on was a “crime against humanity” and a “gross provocation aimed at undermining efforts at a peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian crisis.” But German Chancellor Angela Merkel — widely seen as Russia's closest European negotiating partner — remarked at Davos on Thursday that progress in the Berlin talks was "small," adding that Russia's actions in Ukraine, especially its annexation of Crimea in March, had violated Europe's peaceful post-war order.
On Wednesday night, representatives of Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine met in Berlin to discuss the conflict in eastern Ukraine, and reached an agreement on a dividing line from which government and pro-Russian separatist forces would pull back their heavy weapons. While acknowledging that economic sanctions against Russia could be lifted if progress toward peace is made, Merkel said that "we're not there yet."
Despite worsening conditions on the ground, Russia's relations with NATO appear to be thawing, however. On Thursday, Breedlove told reporters that NATO intends to "reestablish" dialogue soon with Russian counterparts — notably with Valery Gerasimov, chief of the general staff of Russia's armed forces.