There have been reports of gunfire in Donetsk this morning on the third day of a renewed government effort to push back separatist fighters from the region. Barricades are still up along roads to the airport (scene of intense fighting on Monday as the Ukrainian army and air force retook the site, inflicting heavy casualties on the separatist fighters) and the occupied SBU building. The election of a new president appears to have reinvigorated Ukrainian efforts to defeat the Russian-backed fighters.
Yesterday’s liveblog can be found here. For an overview and analysis of this developing story see our latest podcast.
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An interactive map of the situation:
View Ukraine: April, 2014 in a larger map
For links to individual updates click on the timestamps.
Below we will be making regular updates. Be sure to check back often and hit refresh.
In his latest Windows on Eurasia column, Paul Goble provides insights on power and blame in Russian society. With the regime’s efforts to convince people of their dependency, many are more inclined to focus on the sole preservation of minimum standards of living, such as healthcare and pensions, rather than risking change and improvement.
Georgian-Abkhazia war veterans have stormed a government building in Sukhumi after opposition leaders’ demands to organize an “all people’s assembly” were not met under president Aleksandr Ankvab, who fled during the storming. Paul Goble underscores the further, possible spread of such armed insurrection to other regions.
Read here: ‘Donetsk Disease’ Spreads to Abkhazia
In a third article, Paul Goble draws on long-standing skepticism towards political parties in Russia, which stems from sentiments that concerns and interests are not readily addressed, and that differences between parties are vague and “petty”. Such dissatisfaction with ineffectual, existing parties hauntingly points towards a tendency for the emergence of single party system, reminiscent of Soviet times.
Read here: Russian Skepticism about Parties Opening the Way to a Return to One Party Rule, Commentator Says
The self-proclaimed ‘Donetsk People’s Republic’ has asked Russia to send troops before. While many would argue they have received aid (see update below and this one for a few examples), Russia has not yet officially sent troops or aid across the border to the separatists.
Today they are repeating their call for help.
The article was also accompanied by a video said to be taken by one of the fighters of his “exploits” in the region, but that video has been removed by Google due to violations of YouTube standards on violence.
Obozrevatel’ says (translation by The Interpreter):
Terrorists in the East of Ukraine are supported not only by Chechen mercenaries or “performers on tour” but spetsnaz from the Interior Ministry of Russia. This became known after identification of the fighters who were liquidated during the battle near the airport in Donetsk.
In particular, in the telephone of one of those killed was documentation of his “heroic” journey in the form of photographs and videos. Some of the photos were made in Donetsk from the roof of the airport.
These fighters were also reported to take part in a seizure of a base of the Ukrainian forces in Donetsk, says Obozrevatel’. According to the testimony of eyewitnesses, they lined up the personnel in the courtyard, then brought an Orthodox icon out of the building and demonstratively shot it.
According to Semyon Semenchenko, commander of the Donbass batallion, saboteurs and weapons for the “terrorists” continue to be brought in to Ukraine from Russia.
The pictures claim to show, among other things:
2. Chechen fighter holding up raised first finger, which is said to be a sign adopted by militants in Chechnya meaning “there is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his prophet.”
4, 9, 10. Men in Russian police uniforms.
7. Photo of the 4th Regiment of the Chechen Republic Interior Ministry with the wolf picture.
13. What appears to be a residence permit for Moscow in a passport, showing it was issued at the Department of Internal Affairs in Lomonosovsky District, Moscow.
We have not independently corroborated these claims.
The OSCE, which has been monitoring the presidential election, says that despite flaws, and the terrible security situation, overall the election went fairly smoothly:
The 25 May early presidential election in Ukraine was characterized by high voter turnout and the clear resolve of the authorities to hold what was a genuine election largely in line with international commitments and with a respect for fundamental freedoms in the vast majority of the country. This was despite the hostile security environment in two eastern regions and the increasing attempts to derail the process by armed groups in these parts of the country. The Central and other election commissions operated impartially and collegially on the whole, although a number of transparency issues arose just prior to election day and decisions taken may have been beyond their authority. The voting and counting process were transparent and largely in line with procedures, despite large queues of voters at polling stations in some parts of the country. The early stages of the tabulation process were evaluated less positively by International Election Observation Mission (IEOM) observers mostly due to technical problems.
The election took place in a challenging political, economic and in particular security environment. Genuine efforts were made by the electoral authorities to conduct voting throughout the country, despite continued unrest and violence in the east of Ukraine, where anti-government forces control some areas, and the acting government is conducting counter-insurgency operations. This seriously impacted the election environment and affected the general human-rights situation there, also
obstructing meaningful observation. The election did not take place on the Crimean peninsula, as it is not under the control of the Ukrainian authorities, and citizens residing there faced serious difficulties to participate in the election…In most of the country, election day took place peacefully. The CEC put voter turnout at 60 per cent. It started posting detailed preliminary election results by polling stations on its website on election night. Despite efforts of the election administration to ensure voting throughout the country, polling did not take place in large parts of Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts, due to systematic disruption by armed separatist groups. The voting and counting process was orderly and well organized in most of polling stations observed, with only minor procedural problems noted. However, the high number of voters frequently resulted in overcrowding, especially where local elections were held simultaneously, and frequently delayed the count in these polling stations. The early stages of the tabulation process were assessed negatively in a fifth of observations from IEOM observers, mainly due to working conditions, overcrowding, and an attack on the CEC’s computer system that disrupted the processing and transmission of election results.
There were specific criticisms in the report, but none of them, at this point, seem critical to the results (read the full report here).
As for the results, counting is still going on. They results however have not changed. Poroshenko is ahead, and has more than 50% of the vote, so will likely avoid a runoff election.
RFE/RL has the latest report:
Ukraine’s National Guard has reported fighting in the restive eastern city of Luhansk and said there were new “losses.”
The brief May 28 statement said pro-Russian separatists attacked and attempted to seize a base the National Guard unit was using.
The statement said there were losses “both in the ranks of the military unit and the attacking side” but did not provide any casualty figures.
The statement said separatists had attacked a different military base in Luhansk earlier on May 28. (UNIAN and AFP)
Video shows some of the gunfire from earlier:
Vice News had a team on the front lines of the battle for Donetsk Airport:
VICE News found a small unit of DPR gunmen among the trees along the access road who had pulled back from their earlier positions closer to the airport. Gunfire seemed to follow them as shots hit the wall on the other side of the road and one of their wounded fighters, who had been shot in the upper thigh was evacuated in a civilian car. The gunfire intensified and the unit was forced to withdraw.
The next morning gunfire could still be occasionally heard but the situation still remained unclear. Both sides claimed they controlled the airport, though it was clear that the Ukrainians had taken control and casualty figures were fluctuating, as more bodies were brought into the local morgues. At least 33 DPR gunmen had been killed in the assault, while the government were claiming 150 perished in the fight.
Their video is a must-watch:
An update on our last story — an official statement from the OSCE:
At around noon today the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine lost contact with some members of its Donetsk-based team.
The team was west of Donetsk City on its way to Dnipropetrovsk when contact was lost.
The team consists of 11 international SMM members, travelling (sic) in three vehicles. The monitors were stopped at a road block in Marinka.
At around 19:00 contact was re-established when the group returned to Donetsk.
The nationalities of the 11 monitors are: American (1), Austrian (1), Bulgarian (2), Dutch (1), Finnish (1), Italian (1), Norwegian (1), Polish (1), Russian (1) and Slovak (1).
Any further pertinent information will be shared as soon as possible.
Note — the team that went missing on Monday appears to still be in the hands of separatists.
The OSCE has announced that 11 members of their Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine were detained earlier in the Donetsk region.
Translation: 11 OSCE observers were detained in Marinka, Donetsk oblast. Contact with them was restored at 19:00. They are in Donetsk.
The OSCE also issued the following statement in English:
OSCE Special Monitoring Mission: Group of 11 Monitors Detained
KYIV, MAY 28, 2014 – At around noon today the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine lost contact with some members of its Donetsk-based team.
The team was west of Donetsk City on its way to Dnipropetrovsk when contact was lost.
The team consists of 11 international SMM members, travelling in three vehicles. The monitors were stopped at a road block in Marinka.
At around 19:00 contact was re-established when the group returned to Donetsk.
The nationalities of the 11 monitors are: American (1), Austrian (1), Bulgarian (2), Dutch (1), Finnish (1), Italian (1), Norwegian (1), Polish (1), Russian (1) and Slovak (1).
Any further pertinent information will be shared as soon as possible.
Four other OSCE observers, abducted on Monday, are being held by separatists.
Semyon Semyonchenko, commander of the volunteer Donbass Battalion, has written a response to reports that the separatists are fleeing or retreating on his Facebook page (translated by The Interpreter):
First, some facts: there is a periodical rotation of terrorist groups. Groups are drawn up from the towns and sent on trips to camps (former childrens’ camps in the Lugansk and Donetsk oblasts). There, training is conducted by the DPR militia yobs and groups of militants are churned out.
Groups periodically withdraw to the Russian Federation. The border is not locked down. Weapons and mercenaries are being brought in from neighbouring territory. Each day, up to 15 people infiltrate the Novoazovsk district alone.The main separatist shock force is currently made up of former Crimean Alpha personnel, Berkut, and Chechen fighters. The DPR militia is in the transition stage between the “red guards” and the “red army”. If the terrorists are given enough time to fool people and put an army together, (they already have BTRs, anti-aircraft guns, light and heavy small arms in service), then it will not end tomorrow – they will take as much as we give.Secondly, you can’t win without having built a modern army and intelligence services, you can only come to an agreement. We must not bargain, we can’t conserve this ulcer for years. I’m not just talking about Donbass now, but also about corruption, ineffective government, theft, irresponsibility and incompetence, about everything that sucks all the juice out of our country. But if, or rather when we win, will will get a chance to rapidly build a brand new, effective state. If we bargain with them, we will rot futher, leaving our children in place of us to see the results of endless “reform”.
Ukraine’s former Interior Minister says that 5000 Russian “terrorists” have invaded the Lugansk region of eastern Ukraine. Below is an article on ArgumentaUA, translated by The Interpreter:
Yury Lutsenko, former Interior Minister, told Channel 5, Glavkom reported.
“In Lugansk Region, there are more than 5,000 armed terrorists. An invasion detachment is standing right at the border; the Russian spetsnaz in the old Soviet paratroopers’ uniform are simply holding the gates open for the movement of freight — the border has collapsed. In Donetsk Region, there are three times as much,” he said.
He said trucks were bringing in weapons every day.
The number given by Lutsenko has not been verified.
What we do know is that the Ukrainian government has been complaining, in greater frequency, about the large numbers of Russians crossing the border to aid the separatists. We also know that the Ukrainian government claims to have intercepted weapons shipments from Russia and Crimea, large numbers of the separatists admit that they are Russians, and Russian-backed separatists appear to be well equipped with weapons that may be more powerful and in far greater number than they could have captured during this conflict. If Lutsenko’s numbers can’t be verified, he is still pointing a finger at a very real problem for Ukrainian officials engaged in this fight against separatists.
Tweets from journalists at a press meeting called by Aleksandr Borodai, the self-proclaimed ‘prime minister’ of the ‘Donetsk People’s Republic’, report that Borodai has admitted to the presence of Chechen fighters in Ukraine.
Of course, it must be noted that Borodai himself is a Russian citizen.
Fighters from the separatist Vostok Battalion were filmed telling reporters that they were from Chechnya on Sunday at a rally in Donetsk.
Earlier on there were frightening scenes outside the DPR headquarters in Donetsk, reported by the Kyiv Post‘s Isaac Webb:
Interfax Ukraine reports that the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has said that the missing members of the OSCE special monitoring mission, who disappeared on Monday, are being held by “pro-Russian activists in the Donetsk oblast”.
Yevhen Perebyinis, a representative from the Foreign Ministry, told Interfax (translated by The Interpreter):
“Yes, they are being held by one of the pro-Russian groups and work is under way to secure their release… We are continuously in contact with the OSCE monitoring mission and are working closely with law enforcement agencies.”
Interfax reports that Perebyinis said that the Ukrainian government has now established a special task force for dealing with the issue.
Paula Slier, a reporter for the Kremlin-backed TV channel RT, was ordered, along with her crew, to leave the roof of the same building by armed men. One of them carries a sniper rifle and binoculars.
Sabra Ayres, a reporter for The Christian Science Monitor, tweeted this photo of what appear to be Ukrainian military reinforcements heading towards Donetsk:
Elsewhere in the city, striking coal miners held a protest in support of the separatists:
There have been many reports this morning of Ukrainian Air Force jets flying low over the city of Donetsk as the government’s anti-terrorist operation continues what has been, following a lull for the elections, a concerted effort to defeat separatist fighters in the region.
The last two days have seen more combat operations by the Air Force than at any time before in the crisis. Devastating casualties were inflicted on separatist fighters in fighting around Donetsk airport on Monday.
Translation: Bursts of fire carrying on from the SBU. Unperturbed people walking nearby.
Meanwhile freelance photographer John Wendle reported fighting on Artyom Boulevard, further out from the city centre, to the north-west of the SBU building:
A video uploaded today appears to show separatist Vostok Battalion fighters on the move in Donetsk. Their convoy includes the blue truck we have seen them using for the last few days. One minibus in their convoy is towing what appears to be an anti-aircraft gun of some sort.
