Kyiv did not meet the demand of the unrecognized "Donetsk People's Republic" militia to pull out forces from the region. The forces were enlarged instead, says a report posted on the "Donetsk People's Republic" Web site novorossia.su.
“The Kyiv authorities offered an immediate reaction [to the ultimatum]; forces are being mounted. Everything the Ukrainian army possesses – paratroopers, aircraft and tanks and special units of Right Sector gunmen – has been used against the volunteers,” the report says.
“Yet the Donetsk army headquarters does not doubt it will be able to withstand this armada, especially as a growing number of Ukrainian servicemen take the people’s side out of despair and because of the illegal orders of their commanders,” the report underscored.
“Donetsk People’s Republic” army deputy commander Serhiy Zdryliuk said earlier, “I will wash my hands of it unless armored vehicles, personnel and etc are pulled back from Donetsk within the next few hours. I will no longer care who I am dealing with, either conscripts, young boys aged 18, or elderly professionals or especially mercenaries. Everything will be burned down and destroyed unless the hardware is pulled 20-30 kilometers back from Donetsk. I already have intelligence and sabotage groups.”
The ultimatum given by the “Donetsk People’s Republic” expired in the morning on May 16.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry press service said on
Friday the armed opponents of the Ukrainian central authorities kept
firing on the positions of law enforcement units on the anti-terrorism
mission in Sloviansk, Donetsk region.
The ministry said a roadblock near the Sloviansk TV tower was came
under fire from a BMD-2 infantry combat vehicle and firearms at 17:40
p.m. on Thursday. The attackers were firing from behind railroad cars.
Ukrainian Armed Forces paratroopers returned fire. The attackers had to
retreat. The paratroopers did not have casualties.
“Terrorists opened fire on a roadblock near the village of Semenivka
at 17:50 p.m. The Ukrainian servicemen detected the position of the
enemy gunfire spotter. There were no casualties in that shootout
either,” the Defense Ministry said.
An intelligence team came under sniper rifle fire while
reconnoitering the vicinity of a roadblock controlled by government
forces at 7:40 p.m. “Fire was returned from the Ukrainian National Guard
BTR-4 armored personnel carrier. The law enforcers did not have
casualties,” the report concluded.
