Pro- Russian rebels driven out of eastern port city
LONDON — Ukraine claimed a victory against pro- Russian separatists Friday, after government troops drove Kremlin- backed rebels from positions they held in a key city in the country’s east.
About 100 soldiers attacked buildings occupied by rebels in the port of Mariupol, destroying an armoured vehicle and a heavy truck that the rebels had commandeered. The city, which is the second largest in the industrial Donetsk region, has been hotly contested since the pro- Russian uprising that swept across eastern Ukraine two months ago.
Following Friday’s operation, which started with a dawn raid, hundreds of Ukrainian government troops emerged from rebel- occupied buildings singing the Ukrainian national anthem. They also draped the national flag once more around the city’s council building.
Around the scene of the battle, vehicles lay burned and riddled with bullet holes.
The battle came amid signs of a gradual easing in the tensions between Kyiv and Moscow, with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, holding a meeting with his newly elected Ukrainian counterpart, Petro Poroshenko, on the sidelines of last week’s D- Day anniversary commemorations in France. The pair said they both wanted an end to violence. The day before, Washington had warned Putin that if he did not recognize Poroshenko’s authority, Russia would likely face further economic sanctions.
Poroshenko, a billionaire confectioner who swept to power last month with more than 50 per cent of the vote, was quick to make political capital from the gains in Mariupol. He proclaimed his troops’ “heroism” and gave immediate orders for the city, which overlooks the Sea of Azov, to be made temporary capital of the region, replacing Donetsk, where rebels are still largely in control.
Arsen Avakov, Ukraine’s interior minister, said four government troops were wounded and at least four separatist fighters were captured in the fighting.
While the town lies on a strategic route between Russia and its newly taken territories in Crimea, it may not be the decisive moment in Kyiv’s campaign to win back the east.
Pro- Russian activity in the town has already been held in check to some extent by Rinat Akhmetov, a powerful Ukrainian steel oligarch who mobilized his steel workers to protest against plans by the separatists to disrupt last month’s elections. He has also ordered his employees, who include former soldiers hired as factory security guards, to help keep general order in the city, fearing that violence would harm his business empire and those who work for it.