28 May 2014
Russian President Vladimir Putin called for the Ukrainian government to immediate halt its anti-terrorist operation (ATO), reported the Kremlin press-service on May 27. “The president of Russia stressed the need to quickly halt the military-punitive operation in the southeastern oblasts and establish a peaceful dialogue between Kyiv and the region’s representatives,” the statement said.
The Ukrainian government’s ATO made strides on May 27, reportedly destroying a training base in the Luhansk Oblast near the Russian border and retaking control of the Dontesk airport. The ATO will continue until the separatist forces are fully destroyed, said yesterday Vitaliy Yarema, Ukraine’s first vice prime minister for law enforcement. Meanwhile, the Presidential Administration denied Russian media reports that the government is planning to target civilians in the ATO. “The actions of Ukrainian forces don’t pose any threat to the lives of peaceful citizens of Ukraine,” said Serhiy Pashynskiy, the administration chair. “Reports on the possible use of aerial strikes or heavy artillery use in cities are an info provocation with the goal of sowing panic among the population of Donetsk and adjacent territories,” he said.
Donetsk Mayor Oleksandr Lukianchenko reported 40 deaths, including two civilian casualties, since the ATO’s launch on May 26, which contrasts with estimates that reach as high as 200 deaths, as estimated by the pro-government Right Sector paramilitary force. The terrorists burned and ransacked the local ice hockey arena, while the Donbas Arena football stadium has been temporarily shut down. Two police chiefs in the Donetsk Oblast city of Horlivka were reportedly shot and it has yet to be confirmed whether they were killed.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) reported on May 27 it lost contact with its observers in Donetsk on the prior evening. The four foreigners were on a routine patrol when they disappeared. The Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Ministry suggested in a May 27 statement they were kidnapped by “pro-Russian groups that carry out illegal activities in the region with the support of Russian Federation.”
Zenon Zawada: The Kremlin is trying to convince the residents of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts it’s protecting their interests, rather than Kyiv. So far, the strategy is failing. Meanwhile, Putin’s references to “southeast Ukraine,” a term that encompasses more regions than those two easternmost outposts, is utterly outdated at this point as attempts to spark a mass movement have failed. Instead, the vast majority of these residents would like to see Kyiv put an end to these military conflicts as quickly as possible, which the newly elected president seems to be planning to do.