Ukrainian troops fought pitched gunbattles on Monday with a pro-Russia militia occupying an eastern city, and the Government sent an elite national guard unit to re-establish control over the southern port city of Odessa.
The twin moves reflected an apparent escalation of efforts to bring both regions back under Kiev’s control. Any possible loss of Odessa in the west and parts of eastern Ukraine could leave the sprawling country landlocked, cut off entirely from the Black Sea. Russia has already annexed a significant part of Ukraine’s Black Sea coast in grabbing back the peninsula of Crimea.
AP reporters heard gunfire and multiple explosions on Monday in and around Slovyansk, a city of 1,25,000 that has become the focus of the armed insurgency against the new interim Government in Kiev. Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said on his agency’s website that pro-Russia forces numbering about 800 were deploying large-caliber weapons and mortars. His agency reported four officers killed and 30 wounded in the fighting.
A pro-Russia militia spokesman in Slovyansk said an unspecified number of people had been killed and wounded in the clashes, including a 20-year-old woman killed by a stray bullet.
Both sides indicated fighting was taking place at several sites around the city. An Associated Press crew saw at least four ambulances rushing injured people to a city hospital, and one militiaman was seen being carried in for medical treatment.
Ukraine is facing its worst crisis in decades as the polarized nation of 46 million tries to decide whether to look toward Europe, as its western regions want to do, or improve ties with Russia, which is favored by the many Russian-speakers in the east.
The goals of the pro-Russian insurgency are ostensibly geared toward pushing for broader powers of autonomy for the region, but some insurgents do favor separatism.
In the last few weeks, anti-government forces have stormed and seized government buildings and police stations in a dozen eastern Ukrainian cities. Authorities in Kiev — who blame Russia for backing the insurgents — have up to now been largely powerless to react.