Donetsk remained a lawless place on May 28, with the airport closed, the railway station open and a big question mark over who is in charge of the provincial capital in Ukraine's most populous oblast.
A gun battle started at 1 p.m. and lasted for 30 minutes near the Donetsk department of the Security Service of Ukraine, according to Donetsk Maytor Oleksandr Lukyanchenko, who provided no other information. It has been occupied by pro-Russian separatists.
Russian-backed militants in the city have been using stolen ambulances to move personnel and to transport weapons and ammunition, stated counter-terrorism spokesperson Vladyslav Seleznyov. “Using vehicles with red crosses on the sides contradict morality and human ethics,” said Seleznyov.
The developments come after two days of fighting in the city on May 26-27 during which Ukrainian forces freed the Donetsk International Airport from whom they call “terrorists.” Some 45 separatists were killed in the fighting. The airport sustained heavy damage and has not reopened, although the nearby railway station is operating. Separatists also remain lodged in the regional government center.
“They’ve killed one of our guys and we will not forget this,” Magomed, a 30-year-old Chechen fighter with a wolf tattooed across his chest told the Financial Times. “We will take 100 of their lives for the life our brother.”
A group of about 10 armed masked men on May 26 robbed the Druzhba Stadium and subsequently set it on fire. The stadium belongs to multimillionaire lawmaker Borys Kolesnikov, a former deputy prime minister who was close to overthrown President Viktor Yanukovych. His arena is the venue where his Donbas hockey club plays.
However, not everything is going the way of the insurgent “terrorists.”
Separately, some Russian-backed separatists started cooperating with Ukrainian forces, Seleznyov said by telephone at a May 28 briefing at the Ukraine Crisis Media Center. He, in particular, confirmed that a leading “terrorist” – code-named Abver – has reached out to authorities. The SBU says he is Vinnytsia Oblast native Serhiy Zdryliuk.
“The leadership of the anti-terrorist operations has stated that negotiations are only possible once weapons are surrendered,” Seleznyov said.
The spokesperson added that Kremlin-backed militants overnight shot at residential homes and buildings in Rubizhne in northern Luhansk Oblast and then blamed it on Ukrainian forces. The same has repeatedly happened in Donetsk Oblast’s Sloviansk.
Ukrainian checkpoints were also fired at in Rubizhne. Seleznyov furthermore confirmed that for the past two or three days, armed men from Russia have illegally crossed the Ukrainian border, but wouldn’t say how many “to avoid risks to the anti-terrorist operation.” He said measures are being taken to “not allow this to happen any longer.”
Ukrainian forces damaged a 2C9 Nona airborne assault gun-mortar in Sloviansk overnight, said Seleznyov. Separatists earlier had captured it from Ukrainian military.
SBU captures Kramatorsk separatist
Meanwhile the SBU says that on May 27 leading pro-Russian separatist Ivan Lysenko was caught trying to escape to Russia via Kharkiv. Code-named “psycho,” he is accused of terrorizing the local population in Kramatorsk and allegedly admitted during questioning that he is a subordinate of Igor Girkin who the SBU says is a Russian military intelligence colonel in charge of separatist groups in Donetsk Oblast. Lysenko, according to the SBU, attempted to take over the Kramatorsk airfield and stormed the city’s district administration building.
OSCE team still missing
A team of four special monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation are still missing, said Michael Bociurkiw, a spokesperson for the OSCE, on May 28. Communication with the monitors in Donetsk Oblast broke off on May 26. They had traveled to Ukraine from Switzerland, Denmark, Estonia and Turkey.
Donbas Volunteer Battalion: Separatists rotating men
Semyon Semenchenko, the leader of the quasi-military group Donbas Volunteer Battalion, claimed on Facebook that “terrorist groups periodically rotate.” They leave urban areas and head for rural areas where children’s camps are located where they rest and receive training. Others leave for Russia, he added.
“I want to disappoint friends who periodically read in the mass media that ‘the terrorists are fleeing’ or that ‘the fighters are demoralized and trying to escape,’” said Semenchenko. “The main striking force of the separatists consists of former Crimean (SBU) Alpha Group, Berkut (riot police), and Chechen fighters.”
Kyiv Post editor Mark Rachkevych can be reached at [email protected].
