Ukrainian troops begin military operation to 'destroy foreign invader'

Kiev confirms deployment of troops outside Slavyansk in effort to wrest control of city from pro-Russian elements
Ukrainian army troops receive munitions on the outskirts of Izyum. Photograph Sergei !rits"#P

Alec Luhn in Slavyansk and agencies $ %uesday &' #pril ()&* Ukrainian military and special forces gathered outside Slavyansk on %uesday in the first real show of force since Kiev announced an +anti-terrorist+ operation at the weekend aimed at wresting the city from armed protesters and unmarked soldiers reported to ,e Russian. -ot long after the Ukrainian operation was launched$ Russia.s state news agency reported that two pro-Russian insurgents had ,een wounded in a skirmish near Kramatorsk airport$ outside the city of Slavyansk. /eavy gunfire was heard inside the airport compound. RI#--ovosti reported that the skirmish ,egan when Ukrainian soldiers in an armoured personnel carrier started talking with separatists occupying the site. It did not give any details a,out who started shooting. %he commander of the anti-terrorist operation$ !eneral 0asily Krotov$ confirmed to 1ournalists that government forces had seized an airfield in Kramatorsk. #s he spoke$ four helicopters arrived and flew off loaded with special forces troops. # large armoured column and special forces moved towards Slavyansk 2 seven ,uses filled with &)) paratroopers$ () tanks and armoured personnel carriers moved within *) kilometres 3(' miles4 of the city and set up a checkpoint to control traffic leading to the economically depressed industrial city of &))$))) that has ,een under effective control of separatist gunmen since Saturday.

+%hey must ,e warned that if they do not lay down their arms$ they will ,e destroyed$+ Krutov said$ claiming that the wave of unrest in Ukraine.s east was ,eing led ,y Russian forces. /e said more than 5)) Russian forces had infiltrated neigh,ouring 6uhansk region on 7onday. +8e need to destroy this foreign invader$+ Krutov said. +8e have among these spies Russian military$ professionals with long e9perience in all sorts of conflicts.+ #sked if another ultimatum would ,e given to those who had seized ,uildings$ Krutov said that would ,e +too humanitarian+. /e said civilian casualties were possi,le ,ut his forces would try to +make sure not one innocent person suffers+. +Unfortunately$ we face a difficult situation ,ecause those realising their plan are hiding ,ehind human shields$+ he continued$ apparently referring to the many pro-Russian locals who have taken part in ,uilding takeovers. +Some of them are cynically working toward their own ends$ ,ut many are under the influence of propaganda.+ Russian channels have painted the new Kiev government as dominated ,y nationalists who want to crack down on Russian speakers in the east. %he Russian prime minister$ :mitry 7edvedev$ said on %uesday he hoped Kiev had +enough ,rains+ to prevent a further escalation of the conflict. +Ukraine is on the ,rink of civil war and it is scary$+ he told a news conference after a meeting with his counterparts from ;elarus and Kazakhstan. %uesday.s operation represented Kiev.s most forceful response to date to raids in which state ,uildings in cities across Ukraine.s rust-,elt have fallen under the control of pro-Russian militants. # much smaller team of special forces entered and later pulled ,ack from Slavyansk after a shootout on Sunday apparently ,etween Russian and Ukrainian soldiers in which one Ukrainian was killed and two wounded. !overnment troops have also set up a checkpoint outside the town of Izyum and searched vehicles driving in and out for weapons. Roads into Slavyansk were dotted with protester checkpoints$ at least one with a Russian flag. #nother ,ore a sign reading +If we don.t do it$ no,ody will.+ %he Ukrainian president$ <leksandr %urchynov$ had given pro-Russian locals in eastern Ukraine until 7onday morning to give up their arms and the ,uildings they had seized$ ,ut instead a pro-Russian mo, took over yet another government ,uilding in /orlivka that day. # man who appointed a new police chief there later said he was a 6ieutenant colonel in the Russian army. %he military moves came as western powers stepped up calls for Russia to act to end the crisis in Ukraine. %he US president$ ;arack <,ama$ told his Russian counterpart$ 0ladimir Putin$ in a tense telephone call on 7onday night that 7oscow should use its influence to get separatists in the country to stand down. %he US has also deployed additional fighter aircraft to the ;altic states and Poland.

%he ;ritish foreign secretary$ 8illiam /ague$ on %uesday warned Russia it faced ,eing frozen out ,y the west for years if it did not stop desta,ilising Ukraine. %he -ato chief$ #nders =ogh Rasmussen$ 1oined the US and UK in issuing an urgent pu,lic call on Russia to de-escalate tensions in the Ukraine. /ague said it defied common sense for Putin to deny that the storming of government ,uildings in eastern Ukraine had ,een carried out ,y Russians. Russia insisted on %uesday that any sanctions against 7oscow over the Ukraine crisis would ,e counterproductive. +8e declare once again that any sanctions against Russia would ,e groundless and counterproductive$+ the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement. +Instead of scaring us with another set of sanctions$ the >uropean Union should focus on the 1oint search for a solution for Ukraine.s internal crisis.+ %he mayor of Slavyansk$ where pro-Russian armed men have seized police and security service ,uildings$ said on Ukrainian television on %uesday that troops from Russia and ?rimea had ,een involved in the takeovers. +%oday they actually seized city hall$+ -elya Shtepa said on the channel &&( Ukraine. +%here are definitely green men there today$ they aren.t hiding that they.re from ?rimea$ from Russia$+ she said$ referring to the unmarked soldiers Russia deployed to take control of ?rimea last month$ who are popularly known as +little green men+. Shtepa had initially supported the takeovers on Saturday$ walking among the proRussian protesters filling the streets in a ,right pink 1acket and calling the occupiers +our guys+. ;ut on 7onday a man who identified himself as 0yacheslav Ponomaryov appeared on the ,arricades claiming Shtepa had fled$ and declaring himself the new mayor. /e later made a statement calling on Putin to deploy troops to eastern Ukraine. Shtepa said she did not know Ponomaryov and had only supported the occupiers ,ecause she feared for the safety of policemen who had ,een taken captive. #fter a mo, seized police head@uarters in /orlivka on 7onday$ a man in camouflage appointed a new police chief$ later identifying himself as a lieutenant colonel in the Russian army. Pro-Russian protesters$ many of them armed$ continued to occupy government$ police and other administrative ,uildings in at least nine cities in the country.s Russianspeaking east of the country$ demanding ,roader autonomy and closer ties with Russia. %he central government has so far ,een una,le to rein in the separatists$ and many of the local security forces have switched to their side. >arly on %uesday$ pro-Russian separatists pulled out of one ,uilding they had occupied in Kramatorsk ,ut then seized another in the same town$ officials said. Police first said separatists had voluntarily surrendered the police head@uarters$ though another version issued ,y police later said they @uit the ,uilding as a result of

negotiations. 6ater on %uesday a state security service 3S;U4 spokeswoman said re,els had occupied the local S;U offices in the same town. She gave no details. <,ama told Putin on 7onday that the US preferred a diplomatic solution to the crisis ,ut criticised Russia for taking actions that were not +conducive+ to such a path. /e said Kiev had made +real offers+ to address concerns a,out the decentralisation of powers to local governments in the country$ a senior US government official said. In a sign of rising tensions$ the Pentagon said on 7onday that a Russian military fighter flew past a navy destroyer in the ;lack Sea &( times over the weekend in a +provocative and unprofessional+ move. %he unarmed fighter Su-(* aircraft$ or =encer$ made &( low-altitude passes of the USS :onald ?ook on Saturday$ coming within &$))) yards of the vessel$ according to the Pentagon. %he incident lasted around A) minutes and a Pentagon source said the USS :onald ?ook +was never under threat+ and was +more than capa,le of defending herself+.