Two days after a half dozen Ukrainian paratroopers were killed in an ambush, authorities on May 15 said two pro-Russian rebel bases were eliminated near Kramatorsk and Sloviansk in northern Donetsk Oblast without the loss of civilian or military lives. The news came after Kremlin-backed militants on May 14 issued a second ultimatum in three days for Ukrainian forces either to withdraw from Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts or switch allegiance to a self-proclaimed republic that is calling for secession.
“Tonight (on May 14) near Kramatorsk a camouflaged terrorist
military base was destroyed as part of our counterterrorism operation,” Acting
President Oleksandr Turchynov said in parliament. In a similar statement on May
15, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry specified that the “fierce battle” took place in
a pine forest near the village of Starovarvarivka during which three
“terrorists” were captured and a rocket grenade launcher. Afterward the area was
swept.
However, as of 10 a.m. the operation near Kramatorsk was still
entering “its final stage,” according to military blogger and expert Dmytro
Tymchuk. At a briefing in the Ukraine Crisis Media Center, he wouldn’t confirm
the Defense Ministry’s information and told the Kyiv Post that he has
“different information” with regard to the captured terrorists. On his Facebook
page he posted that Ukrainian forces had encircled the village where
“pro-Russian terrorists had taken up defense defensive positions inside houses
where local residents are as well.”
He added that several Ukrainian soldiers were wounded and that
“a number of terrorists were exterminated.”
A five-kilometer area near the Sloviansk television tower
was cleared of pro-Russian militants on the same night, the Defense Ministry added.
The area, guarded by the National Guard, had come under daily attack, mostly at
night. The TV tower broadcasts Ukrainian channels to Sloviansk, Kramatorsk as
well as other cities in Donetsk Oblast.
Also on May 14, Sergei Zdryliuk, the deputy commander of
pro-Russian rebel forces in eastern Ukraine said Ukrainian forces would come
under attack by midnight today if they don’t retreat 30 kilometers from Donetsk
Oblast’s border to the west.
“If the so-called legitimate government doesn’t remove the armored
vehicles and roadblocks then I have enough strength and means…everything will
be done to destroy and burn everything,” said Zdryliuk. “Reconnaissance and
sabotage groups are ready to move and some have already taken up positions.”
Zdryliuk, a
native of Vinnytsia Oblast whose mother told gazeta.ua that he served in
Ukraine’s Security Service in Crimea, warned that he has “10,000 fighters and
1,000 armored vehicles” at his disposal to wage war.
Tymchuk dismissed the figures, adding that at times the
rebels don’t coordinate with each other, but didn’t rule out that “terrorist
acts would be carried out in certain areas.”
On May 12, Igor Girkin, who authorities say is a Russian
military intelligence colonel and the leader of Kremlin-backed rebels in the
area, issued a similar ultimatum that has since expired.
Tymchuk added that officers with military experience serving
in Iraq under NATO have joined the counterterrorism command staff. He said when
they served, three elections were carried out in Iraq. “Their experience will be
invaluable for carrying out the May 25 (presidential) elections,” said the
military expert.
Meanwhile, Moscow announced that it would conduct military exercises near Ukraine’s border on election day. The U.S. State Department and NATO recently published satellite images showing roughly 40,000 Russian troops, military hardware and other equipment stationed near Ukraine’s border.
Sergei Zdryliuk, a high-ranking pro-Russian rebel leader in Donetsk Oblast, issued an ultimatum on May 14 (with English subtitles)
Kyiv Post business
editor Mark Rachkevych can be reached at [email protected].
