Steelworkers join police on patrols
KIEV, Ukraine — Steelworkers employed by Ukraine’s biggest tycoon have joined police on patrols in some disputed eastern Ukrainian cities, and the company said yesterday that its officials had struck a deal with police and pro-Russia separatists in one of the cities for the insurgents to leave occupied government buildings.
It was unclear how significant the development was. Photographs posted by police did not reveal whether the steelworkers were armed, and it was unknown whether they intended to confront the armed separatists who declared parts of eastern Ukraine independent.
But police said the patrols in Mariupol and Makeevka had helped solve or prevent crimes, including robbery. Mariupol, a city of about 495,000 in the Donetsk region, was gripped by violence last week when clashes between police and protesters killed at least seven people.
The steelworkers are from plants belonging to Metinvest, part of the business empire of Rinat Akhmetov, thought to be Ukraine’s richest man. On Wednesday, Akhmetov issued a statement calling on Donetsk to remain part of Ukraine, arguing that independence or absorption into Russia would be economically catastrophic.
That warning did little to dampen separatist fervor in the Donetsk region, where insurgents calling themselves the Donetsk People’s Republic announced a parliament yesterday. After a weekend referendum denounced as illegitimate by both Ukraine’s central government and the West, separatists in Donetsk and the neighboring Luhansk region declared themselves independent.
However, a Donetsk People’s Republic leader in Mariupol was party to the agreement with steel plant directors and local police on improving security in the city and vacating separatist-occupied buildings, according to a Metinvest statement. That could indicate that Akhmetov, through his companies, could play an influential role in the crisis.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, added pressure on Ukraine yesterday by saying it must pay in advance for Russian gas supplies. Ukraine is heavily dependent on Russian gas, especially for the heavy industries that are the core of Akhmetov’s business.
Putin said Ukraine’s debt for Russian gas supplies stands at $3.5 billion, and criticized it for refusing to pay despite a $3.2 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund. He said it will have to switch to pre-paid gas beginning June 1.