Ukraine's East Border on Alert After Crimea Annexation
DONETSK,
Ukraine -- One month after protesters toppled Ukraine’s pro-Moscow
government, this country’s rural eastern border is the site of a Cold
War-style standoff.
Ukrainians
have dug a trench along their side of the border with Russia that's
supposed to stop Russian troops and tanks from advancing into Eastern
Ukraine. A local official, worried the border was unprotected, paid for
the trench with his own money.
But the trench, which
is just a few feet wide and has several sizable gaps, is unlikely to
stop, or even slow, a Russian advance.
U.S.
military officials told NBC's Jim Miklaszewski that as many as 20,000
Russian troops have amassed along the Ukrainian border. Officials say
many of them come from elite units, backed by heavy armor and attack
helicopters.
"I denounce the aggression against my country."
On
the Ukrainian side of the border, near the the village of Andriivka,
around 200 Ukrainian paratroopers dug foxholes using shovels in a muddy
field and put up a handful of canvas tents. Their families brought them
food in plastic bags.
The
soldiers aren’t universally welcomed. On a cold afternoon this week, a
handful of burly men shouted at the soldiers, saying the border region
should be absorbed into Russia, like Crimea.
They
stood nose-to-nose with members of a pro-Ukraine volunteer group, who’d
also come to the base to bring food and sleeping bags to the
paratroopers. The troops watched as the groups argued noisily, but did
not intervene.
One pro-Ukraine
volunteer told NBC News he wanted to ensure that military vehicles were
able to move freely, without being blocked by pro-Russian militias who
now regularly harass Ukrainian troops in the east.
"I denounce the aggression against my country," the volunteer, Aleksander Romanyuk, a local city lawmaker, said.
North
of the city of Donetsk, a pro-Russian militia recently surrounded the
gates of a Ukrainian military storage facility, blocking trucks from
delivering ammunition to Kiev.
Fireworks in Moscow
The standoff on the border is part of a broader tug-of-war for Ukraine.
On
Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin formalized Russia’s annexation
of Crimea. It marked the first time Moscow has expanded its borders
since World War II. Moscow's sky erupted in fireworks.
The
move triggered another round of stark warnings and financial sanctions.
The European Union joined Washington in freezing the assets of several
of Putin’s closest advisers.
ANTON PEDKO / EPA
Kiev is strongly behind
the sanctions and is hoping that the leadership -- and not the trench –-
can prevent any Russian tanks from streaming across the border.
In Brussels on Friday, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk signed an association agreement with the EU.
Four
months earlier, Ukraine’s then President Viktor Yanukovich rejected the
deal, preferring to maintain close ties to Moscow. The rejection
triggered protests that ultimately led to Yanukovich’s downfall.
end quote from:
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ukraine-crisis/ukraines-east-border-alert-after-crimea-annexation-n59206
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