Editor's Note: Below are live updates of Ukraine's counterterrorism operation in eastern Ukraine, mainly in Donetsk Oblast in the cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk where Kremlin-backed militants are concentrated.
Poroshenko says toxic chemicals were used in Odesa trade union fire
3:16 p.m. — Speaking to journalists in the Verkhovna Rada on May 6, billionaire presidential candidate Petro Poroshenko said there is evidence that toxic chemicals were used in the Odesa trade union fire.
“People from both sides suffered. But in fact there were terrorists brought from Transnistria and Russia who fired on the Ukrainian march and there were also special toxic substances placed at Trade Union house. It was a scenario developed in advance to make the number of victims higher.” — Isaac Webb and Oksana Grytsenko
Russian Colonel
Igor Girkin: ‘Only five of my guys dead’ in Sloviansk
12:55 p.m. — The
Muscovite military intelligence officer in charge of Kremlin-backed militants
said that he lost only five men in yesterday’s firefight with Ukrainian
counterterrorism forces, UNIAN reported citing Komsomolskaya Pravda.
Russian Colonel Igor Girkin stated that of the five
men lost, two were group commanders, “who were one of the most combat experienced.”
Thirteen additional pro-Russian militants were injured, he added.
Called the region’s chief terrorist by Kyiv, Girkin denied
that 800 of his fighters were engaged in the gun battle, saying that only
about 50 had fought. Ukrainian officials say that some 30 Kremlin-backed rebels
died in the fighting, while losing four of their own. – Mark
Rachkevych
Curfew imposed in Konstantinovka, in addition to
Sloviansk
12:30 p.m. — Kremlin-backed
rebels imposed a curfew in Konstantinovka, Donetsk Oblast and are not letting
automobiles enter the city until 6 a.m., reports Novosti Donbass, a local media
outlet. A similar curfew is in place in Sloviansk where heavy fighting took
place on May 5 between Ukrainian counterterrorism forces and Russian-backed
militants. – Mark Rachkevych
Border guards attacked in Sumy and Kherson oblasts
12:12 p.m. — Three
unknown people on May 5 attacked two Ukrainian border guard inspectors in Sumy
Oblast near the Russian border, Interfax Ukraine reports. After warning shots
were fired, the assailants fled the scene, but were later apprehended. They
were local residents.
Also on May 5, border guards detained four Ukrainians trying
to enter Kherson Oblast from Crimea riding in a UAZ sports utility vehicle.
While crossing the border, one passenger exited the automobile and physically
attacked a group of border guards. All four subsequently were detained. – Mark Rachkevych
Turchynov dismisses Odesa governor, appoints Kolomoysky ally
12:15 p.m. — Interim President Oleksandr Turchynov has dismissed Volodymyr Nemyrovsky, the governor of Odesa Oblast, in the wake of separatist violence and a massive fire in Odesa’s trade union building that left dozens dead on May 2.
Nemyrovsky will be replaced by Ihor Palitsu, whom Insider.ua, a business news website, calls a close ally of Dnipropetrovsk governor Ihor Kolomoysky. — Isaac Webb
Kremlin-backed soldiers
speaking non-Russian language at Sloviansk roadblock (VIDEO)
11:50 a.m. – A YouTube
video apparently taken on May 3 of a pro-Russian rebel-controlled checkpoint in
Sloviansk shows two soldiers speaking what appears to be a language other than Ukrainian
or Russian, fueling suspicions that Chechen soldiers have been sent to eastern
Ukraine to cause further unrest. Two armed militants engage in a brief exchange
in the 57th second of the video that doesn’t resemble the Russian or Ukrainian
language. – Mark Rachkevych
Deshchytsya, Lavrov to meet in Vienna
11:16 a.m. — The Foreign Ministers of Ukraine and Russia will meet in Vienna for a “working dinner” after a Council of Europe committee meeting on May 6.
Andriy Deshchytsya, the Ukrainian foreign minister, and Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, last met on April 17 in Geneva. There, they came to a short-lived agreement that many hoped would de-escalate the separatist violence in southeastern Ukraine.
The Russian government does not recognize Deshchytsya or other members of Kyiv’s post-revolutionary government, saying they came to power as the result of a “fascist coup” that toppled former President Victor Yanukovych’s regime. — Isaac Webb
Donetsk: Unknown
shooters attack local independent editor at home
10:27 a.m. –Shots
were fired at a summer home window belonging to Ostrov editor Serhiy Harmash while
he was inside, the media outlet reported. Also inside was Yehor Firsov, a
lawmaker in Vitaliy Klitschko’s Ukraine Democratic Alliance for Reform party.
Both are local members of the Patriotic Forces of Donbas, a pro-Ukrainian civil
society organization in eastern Ukraine.
Unknown assailants shot at the editor’s summer residence at
around 11 p.m. on May 5. Both Firsov and Harmash left Donetsk Oblast.
Also on May 5, four armed masked men knocked down the door
of the local UDAR office in central Donetsk. They also took party documents
during the raid. – Mark Rachkevych
Interior minister: 30 pro-Russian separatists killed in firefight on May 5
10:25 a.m. — Ukraine’s Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said on May 6 that 30 pro-Russian separatists were killed in a firefight with Ukrainian troops on the outskirts of Sloviansk on May 5.
The fighting came as Ukrainian troops restarted their anti-terrorist operation in Sloviansk around noon on May 5. Four Ukrainian soldiers were killed as a result of the operation.
Separatist leader Igor Strelkov initially reported that “around 10” of his men were killed and “20-25 were wounded” in the fighting.
One civilian, a young woman, was shot and killed by a stray bullet. — Isaac Webb
Donetsk airport closed all day
10:20 a.m. — On the morning of May 6, exactly one month after the outbreak of separatist violence in eastern Ukraine, a statement was posted on the Donetsk airport’s website saying the airport will be closed all day because of a government order.
On May 5, the Ukrainian government ramped up its anti-terrorist operation in eastern Ukraine, leading to heavy Ukrainian and pro-Russian casualties. — Isaac Webb
