Separatist forces try to take Maryinka as fighting breaks out along front line
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June 3, 2015, 2:25 p.m. |
Kyiv Post+ — by
Allison Quinn, Kyiv Post+
Representatives of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, Denis Pushilin (R) and Vladislav Deynego (L) answer journalists questions after talks on resolving the Ukraine conflict in Minsk on June 2, 2015. Kiev accused on June 2, 2015 Moscow of sabotaging Ukraine crisis talks, after a meeting in Minsk aimed at resolving the conflict in eastern Ukraine was postponed. AFP PHOTO / SERGEI GAPON
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Allison Quinn
A combined Russian-separatist force of 1,000, the size of a regiment, attacked the western Donetsk suburb of Maryinka on the morning of June 3, military spokesman Yevhen Sylkin told Channel 5.
They also amassed forces near Krasnohorivka, which flanks Maryinka to the north.
Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said the offensive was ordered directly by the Kremlin.
“Yesterday, Russia broke up the meeting of the trilateral contact group, and today Russia ordered its terrorists to launch a military operation (against Ukraine),” Yatsenyuk was cited as saying by Interfax-Ukraine.
His comments came amid fierce battles in the east that had been ongoing since 4 a.m., with reports of heavy weaponry and mounting casualties. Ukrainian news agency Hromadske.tv cited a volunteer medic, Armen Nikogosyan, as saying separatist forces used Grad rockets to encircle Ukrainian forces.
In the ensuing battle, he said at least 25 Ukrainian forces have been wounded so far. “Krasnohorivka and Maryinka are on fire.
"Vicious fighting is happening along the entire (450-kilometer) front line. The separatists are trying to break through. We are praying for our guys,” Yevgeniy Deidei of the Kyiv 1 Battalion, part of the Ukrainian military, wrote on his Facebook page.
Ukrainian checkpoints into occupied territories have been shut down as a result of the fighting, with local residents saying only large columns of military vehicles are being allowed in.
Military spokesman Vladislav Seleznyov confirmed the fighting but described it as a large-scale provocation rather than a major offensive.
“They’ve launched an attack on our guys, who are returning fire to hold them off,” he said.
Throughout the battle, separatist leaders delighted in what they said was a high casualty count on the Ukrainian side.
“In Maryinka right now, the Ukrop population continues to decline,” former separatist commander Igor Girkin wrote on his Vkontakte page, citing a separatist on the ground in Donetsk. “Ukrop” is a deragotry term for Ukrainians often used by pro-Russian separatists.
“Fighting has been going on since 4 a.m. … Locals say the Ukrops are very upset. In hijacked radio communications, the Ukrainians are saying it’s a very bad situation for them in Marynka,” he wrote, adding that at least 19 separatist fighters had been killed so far.
Andrey Lysenko, the military’s spokesman for the combat zone, told the Kyiv Post that no Ukrainian forces had been killed in the fighting.
The battle “can be considered an attempted offensive, but it’s not happening on a large portion of the front, so we can’t talk about a large-scale offensive at this point,” he said.
“If the attacks by separatists continue, we will respond appropriately,” he said.
Yatsenyuk called the attacks “yet another challenge for the international community,” adding that he hoped world leaders would “respond appropriately to Russia’s aggression,” Interfax-Ukraine reported.
Staff writer Alyona Zhuk contributed to this report.
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Belarus tightens security along the border with Ukraine
World
June 03, 13:55 UTC+3
Belarussian Defence Ministry said two squadrons from the 38th Independent Mobile Brigade of Special Operations Forces got fully operational
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MINSK, June 3. /TASS/. The Belarussian Defence Ministry is sending additional forces to tighten security along its border with Ukraine, the ministry press service said on Wednesday.
It said two squadrons from the 38th Independent Mobile Brigade of Special Operations Forces got fully operational. "They will march from Brest to Gomel and will then be placed under control of the State Border Guard Committee with an aim of tightening security on the state border in the southern direction," it said.
The press service said the military commissariat was recalling military to these units.
