Foes flex muscles in east Ukraine as NATO beefs up forces
April 16, 2014
A concerned NATO said it planned to deploy more forces in eastern Europe and called for Russia to stop "destabilising" the former Soviet satellite, which has been in deep turmoil since the ouster of the pro-Kremlin leadership in February.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that Kiev´s decision to send in troops this week to put down a separatist uprising in its industrial heartland had dragged the country to the brink of civil war.
An AFP reporter in the flashpoint town of Slavyansk saw at least six APCs and light tanks, some flying Russian flags, in the city centre with dozens of armed men in camouflage stationed around them claiming to be volunteers and Ukrainian army defectors.
Ukraine´s defence ministry confirmed the vehicles were seized from its forces after they were blocked by local pro-Russian activists.
An AFP reporter in the nearby town of Kramatorsk said a column of 14 armoured vehicles still controlled by the Ukrainian army was deployed, although these were too were being blocked by a crowd of pro-Moscow protesters.
Military jets could be seen flying low over both towns in an additional show of strength. As the situation on the ground appeared to escalate, NATo chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen announced that the alliance would deploy additional forces in eastern Europe but said a political soluition was the only way forward.
"We will have more planes in the air, more ships on the water... and more readiness on the land," he said.
The authorities in Kiev also ratcheted up verbal attacks on Russia, with Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk accusing Moscow of trying to build "a new Berlin wall".
Yatsenyuk demanded Moscow halt its alleged support for the separatists but said Kiev remained committed to Thursday´s crunch talks between the top diplomats of Russia, the European Union, the United States and Ukraine.
"There is only one directive for the Ukrainian foreign ministry -- the Russian government has to immediately withdraw its commando groups, condemn the terrorists and demand they leave the installations," he said.
Ukraine´s acting Defence Minister Mykhailo Koval headed out to the east to check on the progress of Kiev´s seemingly stalled bid to oust the separatists.
The military also pledged a firm response after two serviceman were allegedly taken hostage by pro-Russian forces in the Lugansk region.
The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) said in a statement that Russian commanders in the east had issued pro-Kremlin militants with "shoot-to-kill" orders.
Vitaliy Naida, a spokesman for the service´s counter intelligence department, said some 40 Russian spys had been uncovered and stopped since the operation in the east started.
Elsewhere, pro-Moscow gunmen stormed the mayor´s office in the regional capital Donetsk, according to an AFP reporter.
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