Heavy fighting breaks out in Slovyansk
Ukrainian army at check point in Slovyansk, May 2014.
Heavy fighting erupted Monday in the pro-Russian separatist stronghold of Sloyvansk in eastern Ukraine, with authorities reporting four Ukrainian soldiers dead and a rebel commander telling local media that more than 30 militants had possibly been killed.
Accounts from both sides suggested the Ukrainian military was pushing further into the volatile city than it has before, with the confrontation marking the most sustained fighting since Kiev launched its operation to quell the insurgency in eastern Ukraine. It comes following a weekend of escalating clashes as the conflict moves into a more dangerous phase.
On Monday morning, Ukrainian forces met with strong resistance from a group of about 800 pro-Russian fighters armed with large caliber weapons, mortars and other equipment, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said.
Pro-Russian armed men ride on top of an armored personnel carrier near the town of Slovyansk, eastern Ukraine, Monday. Reuters
The Interior Ministry said four Ukrainian soldiers had been killed and 30 injured, and an untold number of militant fighters had been wounded in the operation. A separatist spokesman told the Interfax news agency that there had been a large number of dead among the rebel fighters following pitched battles in various parts of the city.
"The fighting is still under way. We have managed to stop the enemy from advancing deep into the city but it was with great difficulty. We have a lot of victims—maybe more than 20 people," he was quoted as saying.
He said a gas station exploded after being hit by gunfire, sending up a large fireball that was visible from all around the city.
Gas station explosion, Slovyansk, May 5th
Ukraine's defense ministry said a Mi-24 helicopter had been shot down by heavy machine gun fire and had crashed into a river but the pilots were unharmed.
The ministry also said that a pilot taken captive by militants during heavy fighting last week in which two helicopters were shot down had been rescued during Monday's fighting. It said it had disrupted an effort by rebel fighters to convert railway coal carriers into armored train cars.
Mr. Avakov said the operation was moving forward slowly as to avoid civilian casualties, although his ministry said civilians had been hurt in the fighting, blaming separatists for using them as human shields.
Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry said an armed pro-Russian mob overran a police station in the city of Slovyanoserbsky in the neighboring Luhansk region and beat up the police chief.
BBC: 5. May 2014
Rebels 'retreating' in Sloviansk
Separatist armoured vehicles and a number of rebels were seen in retreat.
Pro-Russian militants just outside Sloviansk have retreated amid attacks by Ukrainian troops, reports say.
Government forces took control of a TV tower in the suburbs and rebels were pulled back deeper into the city, the Russian Interfax news agency said.
Earlier reports told of heavy gunfire, apparently closer to the centre than in recent days.
Ukrainian troops are battling a pro-Russia militia occupying an eastern city in an apparent escalation of a security sweep in Slovyansk, Eastern Ukraine (pro Russia militiaman on photo).
A BBC team which has reached the centre of Sloviansk says there has been a lull in the fighting between about 800 pro-Russian militants and Ukrainian troops.
A BBC team which has reached the centre of Sloviansk says there has been a lull in the fighting between about 800 pro-Russian militants and Ukrainian troops.
Local residents reported heavy gunfire on Monday morning, but only isolated shooting can still be heard.
Reuters: 5. May 2014
Ukraine moving police special forces to control Odessa
Ukraine sent an elite National guard unit to re-establish control over the southern port city of Odessa
Ukraine's Interior Minister drafted a new special forces unit into the southern port city of Odessa on Monday after what he called the "outrageous" failure of police to tackle pro-Russian separatists in a weekend of violence that killed dozens.
The violence in Odessa, a southwestern port with a broad ethnic mix from Russians and Ukrainians to Georgians and Tatars, was seen as a turning point in Kiev, encroaching for the first time into an area beyond the Russian-speaking east.
Authorities fear trouble in Kiev in the approach to Friday's celebrations of the Soviet victory in World War Two.
Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said the new Odessa force, "Kiev-1", was based on "civil activists" who wanted to help the Black Sea city "in these difficult days". The leadership of the local police had been fired and may face criminal action.
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