| CNN | - |
Kharkiv,
Ukraine (CNN) -- An "anti-terrorist operation" is under way in
Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region against pro-Russia protesters, Kiev
declared on Tuesday, with armored personnel carriers seen on the road in
the restive area.
Ukraine leader says anti-terror operation under way in Donetsk region
updated 12:53 PM EDT, Tue April 15, 2014
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STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Russian PM says Ukraine "on the threshold of a civil war"
- Large Ukrainian military convoy seen traveling on roads in Donetsk region
- Ukraine's acting President says an "anti-terrorist operation" is under way in the Donetsk region
- U.N. human rights report draws parallels between events in Crimea and eastern Ukraine
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Kharkiv, Ukraine (CNN) -- An "anti-terrorist
operation" is under way in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region against
pro-Russia protesters, Kiev declared on Tuesday, with armored personnel
carriers seen on the road in the restive area.
Twenty-four hours after a
Ukrainian ultimatum expired for the protesters to lay down their arms,
acting President Oleksandr Turchynov told Parliament the operation would
be "conducted step by step, responsibly, cautiously."
"The aim of these actions
is to protect the citizens of Ukraine, to stop terror, to stop
criminality, to stop attempts to tear Ukraine to pieces," he said.
Tensions have soared in
recent days in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists have
seized government and police buildings in as many as 10 towns and
cities. Russia declared its neighbor was on the brink of a civil war.
A Monday morning deadline
set by Turchynov for protesters to disarm or face action by Ukraine's
armed forces passed without any sign it was heeded. But Ukrainian forces
now appear to be on the move en masse toward the region.
A spokesman for Ukraine's
National Security and Defense Council, Evgen Rojenyuk, confirmed a
National Guard battalion made up of 350 troops was sent to the Donetsk
region from Kiev on Tuesday morning.
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The deployment was also
confirmed by the deputy head of Ukraine's Internal Affairs Ministry,
Mykola Velychkovych, though he would not confirm the numbers involved,
where the battalion was headed, or what orders it would be given. He
said the ministry would decide on a plan of action once the troops
arrive in eastern Ukraine.
The National Guard troops
-- many of them former street protesters who signed up after the
interim government took power in February -- have had only a few weeks
of training.
Military column
A CNN team in eastern
Ukraine encountered a large Ukrainian military column traveling on roads
leading from the city of Donetsk toward other towns in the region.
The column included more
than 20 armored personnel carriers, along with support vehicles, and a
helicopter circled overhead. The troops, who were carrying the Ukrainian
flag, appeared to be headed north and east, although their precise
destination was unclear.
The pro-Russian mayor of
Slaviansk claimed Tuesday that a Ukrainian military convoy including
troops and armored vehicles had now surrounded the town, Russian state
news agency ITAR-Tass reported.
"If they try to move in, we will have to stop them," it quoted him saying.
Pro-Russian protesters seized a police building over the weekend in Slaviansk, some 100 miles from the border with Russia.
From a hill overlooking
the town, a CNN team saw no obvious signs of a large-scale operation,
such as military helicopters or planes.
Earlier, police in
Kramatorsk, a town to the north of the Donetsk region, appeared to have
taken back control of a police headquarters from pro-Russian activists.
The City Council building was still occupied, however.
Turchynov's office later
added Ukrainian special forces were in control of an airfield in the
town -- where witnesses had earlier said they had heard planes flying
overhead and gunfire.
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In other signs of
movement, amateur video footage posted to YouTube on Tuesday purportedly
showed a Ukrainian military column, made up of trucks followed by
tanks, that is believed to be pushing through the Donetsk region. CNN
cannot independently verify the authenticity of the video.
Another unverified
amateur video clip posted on YouTube shows a Ukrainian military tank,
also believed to be in the Donetsk region. People who appear to be
civilians approach the lone tank to ask its crew, "Why have you come?
... Are you here to kill us?" No violence occurs.
Amid the unfolding
crisis, Ukraine's most senior security and defense officials are to meet
for a closed session with all members of Parliament on Wednesday
morning, Turchynov said.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev gave a gloomy assessment.
"Blood has been shed in
Ukraine again. The country is on the threshold of a civil war," he said
on his Facebook page, according to state news agency RIA Novosti.
NATO chief urges Russia to help
EU defense ministers and
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen met Tuesday in Luxembourg,
with the crisis in Ukraine high on the agenda.
As he arrived for the
talks, Rasmussen told reporters he was "deeply concerned" by the latest
developments in Ukraine, citing continued violence by small groups of
separatists and Russia's continued military pressure on Ukraine's
border.
"I call on Russia to
de-escalate the crisis, to pull back its troops from Ukraine's borders,
to stop destabilizing the situation in Ukraine and make clear that it
doesn't support the violent actions of pro-Russian separatists," he
said.
"Russia should stop being part of the problem and start being part of the solution."
He said NATO and the
European Union are not discussing military options, and that they
support a diplomatic and political solution to the crisis.
"However, we are focused militarily on strengthening defense of our allies. That's our core task," he said.
'Misinformation, propaganda'
A U.N. human rights
report released Tuesday on the situation in Ukraine, including the
Crimea region -- which was annexed by Russia last month -- cited an
urgent need to counter "misinformation, propaganda and incitement to
hatred" in the country to avoid the further escalation of tensions.
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"Facts on the ground
need to be established to help reduce the risk of radically different
narratives being exploited for political ends," said U.N. High
Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay.
Based on information
gathered by U.N. human rights monitors since March 15, the report draws
concerning parallels between what happened in Crimea and events
unfolding in eastern Ukraine now.
"In eastern Ukraine,
where a large ethnic Russian minority resides, the situation remains
particularly tense," the report said, as it urged steps to build
confidence between the government in Kiev and people living there.
The U.N. agency also cited allegations that some Russians have been involved in stirring up the unrest.
"It is widely assessed
that while there were some attacks against the ethnic Russian community,
these were neither systematic nor widespread," it said. "There are also
allegations that some participants in the protests and clashes in
eastern Ukraine were not from the region, and that some had come from
the Russian Federation."
Russia has said it reserves the right to intervene to protect the rights of ethnic Russians in eastern Ukraine.
In a sign of the
divisions roiling the country, YouTube footage posted online appeared to
show two openly pro-Russian presidential candidates, who have
demonstrated support for separatists, being antagonized by crowds in
separate incidents in Kiev on Monday night.
In one video, Mikhail
Dobkin, a presidential candidate for the Party of Regions, the party of
ousted President Viktor Yanukovych, had flour and green liquid thrown at
him as he addressed crowds.
Another clip showed Oleg
Tsarov, an independent candidate who was expelled from the Party of
Regions, speaking to people without a shirt as he apparently sought to
show the bruising he'd received from an aggressive crowd.
In the third video,
Tsarov tries to leave a TV station, where crowds shout "Shame! Shame!
Shame!" His supporters and protesters end up in a brief scuffle.
CNN has not been able independently to verify the amateur video clips.
Obama urges Putin to use influence
Also Monday, U.S.
President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke about
the worsening crisis. The two leaders last spoke March 28.
According to the White
House, Obama urged Putin to withdraw Russian troops from Ukraine's
border and to use his influence to persuade armed pro-Russian groups to
leave the buildings they have seized.
"The President noted
Russia's growing political and economic isolation as a result of its
actions in Ukraine and made clear that the costs Russia already has
incurred will increase if those actions persist," the White House said.
According to a Russian
statement, Putin stressed the protests "are the result of the Kiev
authorities' unwillingness and inability to take into account the
interests of the Russian and Russian-speaking population" and called on
Obama to help prevent the use of force.
"In response to the U.S.
President's expressed concern about Russia's alleged interference in
southeastern Ukraine, the President of Russia noted that such
speculations are based on inaccurate information," it read.
European Union foreign
ministers on Monday agreed to expand the list of those subject to
sanctions and took further steps to help Ukraine economically, as Kiev's
interim government seeks closer ties to the West.
"Any further action
aimed at destabilizing Ukraine must stop. It is crucial that Russia and
Ukraine engage in a meaningful dialogue to find a political solution,"
said EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.
Leaders from Ukraine,
Russia, the United States and the European Union are due to meet
Thursday in Geneva, Switzerland, to discuss the crisis.
Pretext for intervention?
The unrest is the latest
in a series of events ratcheting up tensions between Ukraine and
Russia, which Kiev accuses of fomenting trouble in Russian-speaking
eastern Ukraine.
After then-Ukrainian
leader Yanukovych backed out of a deal with the European Union in
November in favor of closer ties with Russia, he was forced from office
in February, the result of months of protests in Kiev.
Distrust among the
population in eastern Ukraine, the base of Yanukovych's power, grew as
the new national government shifted rapidly in a pro-Western direction. A
short time later, pro-Russian elements occupied the Black Sea peninsula
of Crimea, which Russia annexed in March. Since then, pro-Russian
protesters have taken to the streets in eastern Ukraine and in some
cases stormed and occupied buildings.
Kiev's fragile new
government and the West accuse Russia of destabilizing the region as a
pretext potentially to send in troops to protect the local
Russian-speaking population.
NATO says Russian armed
forces are massing on Ukraine's eastern border, while Moscow says they
are merely carrying out military exercises.
CNN's Phil Black reported from Kharkiv and
Laura Smith-Spark wrote and reported in London. CNN's Kellie Morgan,
Nick Paton Walsh, Diana Magnay, Arkady Irshenko, Carol Jordan, Larry
Register, Richard Roth, Khushbu Shah, Jason Hanna, Marie-Louise
Gumuchian and Tim Lister contributed to this report, as did journalist
Azad Safarov.
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