Ukraine's Interior Minister drafted a new special forces unit into the southern port city of Odessa on May 5 after what he called the "outrageous" failure of police to tackle pro-Russian separatists in a weekend of violence that killed dozens. Fighting continued near the eastern town of Slaviansk where Ukrainian troops have been, somewhat tentatively, pressing a campaign to end pro-Russian rebellion. A Reuters correspondent said gunfire seemed to be coming closer to the city centre.
Russia's War Against Ukraine
Reuters: Ukraine moving police special forces to control Odessa
: People react in Odessa on May 5, 2014 during the funeral ceremony of Vyacheslav Markin, the deputy of Odessa regional council and a leader of the pro-Russian opposition, who died as a result of clashes between Pro-Russian and Pro-Kiev militants on May 2 in the southern Ukrainian city. A blaze at a trade union building in Odessa on May 2 left 42 people dead -- most of them pro-Russian militants -- after running battles with pro-Kiev protesters. Increasing tension in the southern port city of Odessa threatened a new front in the Ukrainian government's battle against pro-Moscow militants, with an expanded military operation under way in the east against gunmen holding more than a dozen towns. AFP PHOTO/ ANATOLII STEPANOV
