Russian forces operating in two Donetsk cities, Ukraine minister says

Russian special forces from the 45th regiment are operating in the Donetsk Oblast cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, reported on April 15 Vitaliy Yarema, Ukraine’s vice prime minister for law enforcement. The same day, Russian Presidential Administration Spokesman Dmitry Pyeskov dismissed claims of Russians soldiers being on the territory of the Ukrainian mainland as absurd.

 

About 300 Russian soldiers were present in the Donetsk Oblast on April 14, compared to 150 soldiers on April 13, reported Vasyl Krutov, the director of the Anti-Terrorist Center of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). “We have a matter with a very serious, very qualified and a very professional opponent,” Krutov said. “They deserve credit for a very good level of preparation and knowledge of tactics and methods. These people were in hot spots throughout the world and on their own territory.”

 

Ukrainian special forces freed the Kramatorsk airfield from separatists on April 15, detaining an unidentified amount and inflicting no injuries, said Stanislav Rechynskiy, an advisor to the internal affairs minister. The operation involved the SBU’s Anti-Terrorist Center and the Omega and Alfa special forces divisions. “The operation’s goal was to avoid victims among our people and it was preferred to preserve the lives of the separatists because some of them are also our citizens,” Rechynskiy said. Later that day, men in military fatigues and armed with automatic weapons attempted a siege of the airfield but were fought off by Ukrainian special forces, the Ukrayinska Pravda news site reported.

 

A Ukrainian intelligence officer and his driver, a soldier, were captured by pro-Russian separatists on April 15, reported ostrov.ua, citing anonymous sources Ukraine’s Armed Forces. “Several hours ago, a group of five cars brought a harshly beaten officer to one of the military units in the Amvrosiyivskiy district of the Donetsk Oblast,” the report said. “The terrorists asked to speak with the battalion commander and demanded that the unit be relocated and pledge an oath to ‘the people of Donbas.’ Otherwise, they threatened to kill the hostages. After the soldiers declined to do this, the terrorists left. The fate of the hostages remains unknown.”

 

The activists who have taken control of the Donetsk Oblast State Administration building have been in contact with the Russian government as established by with Russian Duma MP Yevgeny Fedorov, the zn.ua news site reported, cited Skype messages provided by the SBU. They have also been communicating with self-declared Crimean President Sergei Aksyonov and discussed a repeat of the Crimean annexation in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.

 

The SBU has opened a criminal case against a Russian bank in Ukraine for allegedly financing the armed terrorists in eastern Ukraine, reported its press service. In March and April, personnel of the bank’s central office in Kyiv financed the organizers of terrorist groups, the members of which committed violence against citizens, pogroms, arson, destruction of property, takeover of state buildings, resistance of state representatives and law enforcement organs using firearms and prepared terrorist acts, the SBU reported.

 

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev warned on his Facebook page on April 15 that Ukraine is on the brink of civil war. “The reason for the Ukrainian tragedy is the lawful government (of former President Viktor Yanukovych) didn’t even try to preserve law and order in the country’s regions where administrative buildings were taken over,” he stated. “That’s why such a government was reduced to zero. Yet the illegitimate rulers, oppositely, hope to renew that order that they themselves cynically undermined, come to power as a result of an armed revolt. They’re making the same mistake.”

 

Russian Representative to the EU Vladimir Chizhov criticized on April 15 the EU Council’s document on Ukraine approved the prior day in Luxembourg. “It has a lot, but I’d like to turn your attention to what it doesn’t have. To great regret, it doesn’t have a word, not even an assessment of the actions of the Kyiv government, which is ready to plunge not only eastern Ukraine, but the entire country into the maelstrom of a civil war.” He raised the possibility that Russia would not fully participate in the planned April 17 meeting with EU, U.S. and Ukrainian diplomatic leaders. “If the situation in Ukraine results in massive bloodshed, then there won’t be anything to talk about in Geneva with the so-called acting foreign minister of Ukraine,” he told reporters.

 

The Ukrainian government has the right to use decisive measures to ensure order on its territory, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told an April 15 press conference. The best solution to the current conflict is to gain the agreement of those who took over territory to end their resistance, he said. Carney praised the Ukrainian government for its preparedness for dialogue with unsatisfied residents and demonstration of restraint. The activists in eastern Ukraine are not peaceful demonstrators but armed individuals supported by Moscow, both directly and indirectly, he said.

 

Zenon Zawada: The Russian diplomat’s warning of increased bloodshed undermining the April 17 negotiations is part of the Kremlin’s doublespeak on the Ukrainian conflict, given that it’s the Russians themselves who are responsible for escalating the tensions with their military presence, which have resulted in violent incidents in eastern Ukraine, including the death of a Ukrainian officer. We expect the negotiations to occur, but without much success. We don’t see the Ukrainians, backed by Western powers, agreeing to a plan to federalize Ukraine. Therefore, we expect the Russians to escalate the conflict no sooner than this weekend, especially with top Russians officials increasingly referring to the possibility of a civil war.