Ukrainian government forces say they recaptured most of Donetsk’s airport today after intense fighting over the strategically important site that’s been a focus of combat since the conflict began last year.
“Our forces managed to almost completely clear the territory of the airport,” Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said in Kiev, adding that retaking the wrecked facility had been “a massive operation.” Donetsk rebels said heavy fighting was taking place but didn’t mention the airport’s status in a posting on their website.
Four Ukrainian servicemen were killed and 32 were wounded in the past 24 hours, Lysenko said. He said the advance of troops at the airport doesn’t violate the Minsk truce deal because Ukrainian forces cleared rebels from their side of the disengagement line.
The government’s capture of the airport, following a week-long effort by separatists to take it over, rekindles the prospect of all-out war in the former Soviet republic. More than 4,800 people have died in the nine-month conflict, which has poisoned Russia’s ties with its former Cold War foes. Russia rejects accusations by Ukraine, the U.S., the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization that it’s meddling in the conflict by sending troops and weapons.
Pro-Russian rebels stand on guard near their position in the Donetsk airport in Donetsk, Eastern Ukraine. The weeklong effort by separatists to take the regional airport rekindles the specter of all-out war in the former Soviet republic. Close
Pro-Russian rebels stand on guard near their position in the Donetsk airport in... Read More
Pro-Russian rebels stand on guard near their position in the Donetsk airport in Donetsk, Eastern Ukraine. The weeklong effort by separatists to take the regional airport rekindles the specter of all-out war in the former Soviet republic.
Polish Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz will land in Kiev tomorrow to meet with her Ukrainian counterpart Arseniy Yatsenyuk, according to the Ukrainian government’s website. Poland has been the most vocal EU supporter of the Ukrainian government that emerged from last year’s street protests which led to the ouster of former President Viktor Yanukovych.
Talks Canceled
With the cancellation last week of peace talks planned in Minsk, the capital of neighboring Belarus, and Astana in Kazakhstan, fighting has picked up. Lysenko said military officials recorded a wave of 82 separate attacks by militants earlier on the weekend.
Ukrainian troops began “massive shelling” of Donetsk from 9 a.m. today, Donetskoye Agentstvo Novostey, the news agency set up by the breakaway Donetsk People’s Republic government, said on its website today, citing Valentin Motuzenko, a military aide to DPR head.
It’s the first time that Donetsk has experienced such heavy shelling since summer, the website said, citing local residents.
“We have kept the agreements, but since our enemies cannot behave in a civilized way, we will show them their place,” Yuriy Biryukov, a military adviser to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, said today on 112 TV.
Russian Troops
Russia is massing troops and armaments at the border with Ukraine and is testing new weapons in the conflict area, Lysenko said.
The government ordered roads closed for bus and truck traffic in the Luhansk region while insurgents attacked civilians, Luhansk Regional Governor Hennadiy Moskal said on his website. One civilian was killed and four wounded yesterday after militants shelled the town of Popasna at 3 p.m., he said.
Fighting ruined homes, commercial structures and infrastructure in several other villages in the Luhansk region. Workers who were mending a damaged gas pipeline were fired upon yesterday, Moskal said.
Poroshenko and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have called for an immediate meeting of the contact group that includes Ukraine, Russia and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
A gathering of the contact group should be followed by a meeting of French, German, Ukrainian and Russian foreign ministers, Poroshenko said in a statement on his website after a phone talk with Merkel.
Kiev’s Terms
The key pre-conditions for further peace talks are the closure of the Ukrainian-Russian border, the withdrawal of heavy weaponry and the release of all hostages, according to the statement.
Merkel said on Jan. 14 that there is insufficient agreement between Russia and Ukraine to hold a multi-nation summit.
Explosions in Odessa, on the Black Sea coast, and a fire that engulfed a rail tank car carrying gasoline in the Kharkiv region added to tensions. The local prosecutor’s office called the blaze an act of sabotage. In addition, nine passenger cars were damaged by an explosion in a residential area in Kiev late yesterday.
More than 40 towns and villages in the Donetsk region, mainly near the airport, remain without electricity, Lysenko said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Aliaksandr Kudrytski in Minsk, Belarus at akudrytski@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: James M. Gomez at jagomez@bloomberg.net; Balazs Penz at bpenz@bloomberg.net Leon Mangasarian, Hellmuth Tromm
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