Kiev to send special forces into Odessa against pro-Russians
A new special forces unit will go into the Ukrainian city of Odessa following the police’s failure to stop a wave of violence over the weekend that killed dozens, the country’s interior minister says.
Arsen Avakov accused the police, who failed to tackle pro-Russian separatists, of having acted in an “outrageously, possibly in a criminal fashion”. He added: “The ‘honour of the uniform’ will offer no cover.”
Ukrainian leaders warned that they see the police force across wide areas of the country as unreliable in the face of rebellion they say is backed by Moscow and led on the ground by Russian special forces, according to Reuters.
The fighting in Odessa, which is much further west than the other areas held by pro-Russian separatists, is seen as an especially worrying escalation for Kiev. Until now, pro-Russian separatists Ukrainian leaders say are backed by Moscow were taking over in largely Russian speaking areas.
Odessa, however, has a broad ethnic mix from Russians and Ukrainians to Georgians and Tatars. It is a key city of one million people with a grand history as the cosmopolitan southern gateway for the tsars’ empire, has two ports, including an oil terminal, and is an important transport hub.
An escalation of the violence in the city would also heighten Western concern that Ukraine, already culturally divided between an industrial, Russian-speaking east and a more westward looking west, could disintegrate.
Kiev accuses Moscow of being behind a plan to dismember Ukraine, a country the size of France. Ukrainian leaders will be desperate to get the situation there under control as it fights battles further east.
But their efforts, in particular the use of some special forces groups, could fuel anger among the government’s opponents, who accuse it of promoting “fascist” militant groups, such as Right Sector, which took part in the Kiev uprising over the winter.
‘Odessa is a Russian city’
Reuters reported that Kiev’s anger on Monday focused on the Odessa police decision to release 67 largely pro-Russian militants after supporters besieged and stormed a police station on Sunday.
The crowd of several hundred chanted “Odessa is a Russian city!” Russian is the first language of many of its residents.
As the first of the funerals of those who died in fighting in Odessa were due to take place on Monday, the battle continued further east near Slaviansk. A Reuters correspondent said gunfire seemed to be coming closer to the city centre.
The agency reported that at least two separatist armoured personnel carriers and several rebels fled the area, where almost continuous gunfire had been heard since morning.
“In the morning, a squad in the anti-terrorist operation was hit by an ambush by terrorist groups. They are using heavy weapons,” Avakov was quoted as saying by Interfax-Ukraine news agency near Slaviansk.
He said there were fatalities on the Ukrainian side but did not say how many.
And a spokesman for German chancellor Angela Merkel said that a referendum on secession planned by pro-independence campaigners in the eastern city Donetsk would violate the country’s constitution.
Steffen Seibert told a news conference: “Such a referendum, against the Ukrainian constitution, does not calm things down but escalates them.” He added that the people who called the vote had no democratic legitimacy.
