Ukraine Pledges Continued Offensive Against Rebels

Bloomberg, RFE/RL, EMPR & Ukraine@war: 06. July 2014

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko looks at a map in the Ukrainian army’s anti-terrorist operation headquarters near the eastern Kharkiv Oblast city of Izyum, during a June 20 visit.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko promised to continue a military offensive against pro-Russian rebels after his forces retook a key insurgent stronghold. 

Recovering Slovyansk and four other cities (Kramatorsk, Kostyantynivka, Mykolayivka and Artemivsk), in the battle-torn eastern part of the country is the biggest victory so far in Ukraine’s anti-rebel campaign, with Poroshenko giving orders yesterday to raise the Ukrainian flag there. 


Breathtaking pics of Ukraine army recapturing a rebel-stronghold in Slovyansk.

Poroshenko said he would tighten the circle around the insurgents in the east. The offensive has already taken back large swaths of territory there.

On July 5th Slovyansk and Kramatorsk had been abandoned by the almost encircled (pro) Russians who retreated to Donetsk. This did no go without a fight. Pro Russians left Slovyansk in a big hurry. Here is part of the convoy on the retreat

This column of vehicles was attacked, after they tried to overrun government forces checkpoint causing casualties among insurgents and loses of their military hardware.

Here are some photos released after the aftermath:

But most of the pro Russian rebels succeeded to get through and reach Kramatorsk in the afternoon. They stoped there only for a while, and after few hours (at late evening) they were forced out from Kramatorsk by government forces, as well as from neighbouring Konsytinivka and Artemivsk.

In this video it can be seen how the remaining resistance in Kramatorsk is being cleared:

Insurgents left Kramatorsk almost empty. Most of them went to Donetsk to fight another day.

Soldiers bring the flag so it could be hoisted on the building of the city administration of Kramatorsk

Ukrainian flag flown above Kramatorsk city administration


City of Kramatorsk after being liberated

“This is not the final victory, and no time for fireworks,” Poroshenko said in a statement on the president’s website. “This is the beginning of a crucial moment in the combat against insurgents.”

Clashes between the rebels and Ukrainian forces continued in the east, which borders on Russia, including a fight for control of the Donetsk airport. There was no word on when internationally sponsored peace talks may resume.

“The situation is very tough,” Poroshenko said in the statement posted yesterday. “There are a lot of tests ahead.”

Ukrainian authorities said July 4 that they controlled almost two-thirds of the country’s eastern districts.

Remaining residents of Slavyansk went on the balconies and streets to greet the government troops and celebrate liberation of town.

Slovyansk, July 5th 2014. eastern Ukraine.

Peace Talks

The months-long conflict is coming to a head after Poroshenko sent troops to oust the rebels from the mainly Russian-speaking border regions. Poroshenko had predicted a new round of international peace talks as early as yesterday, though there was no further word on when that might take place.

A Pro-Russian checkpoint in Donetsk, Ukraine on July 1, 2014.

Andrei Purgin, deputy premier of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic said by telephone that the rebels had to leave positions in Slovyansk “to save 45,000 civilians that are still located there” as well as because of the superiority of the Ukraine forces. He said the rebels may take part in peace talks with Ukraine’s authorities if Russia and the European Union initiate consultations and act as mediators.

Government from Kharkiv send convoys with food to liberated and starving Slavyansk residents, who spent 5 weeks without water, 2 without electricity, hiding in the basements since they were under constant shelling of heavy artillery while being caught on crossfire.

The Interfax news service yesterday reported fighting between rebels and Ukrainian soldiers for control of the Donetsk airport.

Ukraine’s State Border Service said on its website that about 15 rebels attacked a monitoring post near the Sea of Azov in the far southeast early yesterday, killing one border guard and wounding eight others. In a separate clash, one Ukrainian soldier was killed and four wounded in a fight near Karachun Mountain in the Slovyansk area, the military said on its Facebook page.


Ukrainian forces recaptured the separatist stronghold of Slaviansk on Saturday after a military offensive sent pro-Russian rebels fleeing overnight

Soldiers Killed

Seven Ukrainian soldiers were killed and six wounded in a fight with separatists near the village of Novoselivka-1 in the Donetsk region, the military said.

National Security Council chief Andriy Parubiy said July 4 in Kiev that Ukrainian forces had recaptured 17 cities and villages since the military operation began, including four villages after a cease-fire ended on July 1, and controlled 23 of the 36 districts in the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Ukrainian troops drive an armored personnel carrier in Mykolayivka, a small eastern Ukrainian city near Slovyansk, on July 5.

As government forces dislodge rebels from a swath of territory in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, Russia is sending weapons across the frontier and allowing militants to attack border checkpoints from its territory, Ukrainian security officials said.

Russia rejects the “tired and unsubstantiated” accusations that it’s arming insurgents, according to the Foreign Ministry in Moscow.

Troops moving in Donetsk yesterday, reportedly:

Possible Cease-Fire

The Ukrainian president said a cease-fire is only possible after he gets confirmation it will be honored by separatists. Poroshenko has blamed the insurgents for breaking the 10-day truce more than 100 times.

Russia denounced the intensified Ukrainian military campaign, with the Foreign Ministry pointing to the heavy civilian toll, power shortages and destroyed infrastructure as a result of the offensive. The reliance on the armed forces and preference for “ultimatums and ever new demands” by the authorities in Kiev contradict an agreement reached by the top diplomats from Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France, it said.

Pro-Russian fighters marching the streets of Donetsk, July 6th 2014, eastern Ukraine

French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel sought to step up diplomacy aimed at reinstating the cease-fire. In a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 3, they raised pressure on him to push the militants to reach an agreement with Ukraine.