Ukraine recaptures land from separatists
Military gains made as first round of ‘unity talks’ begins
KIEV, Ukraine – Ukraine’s beleaguered “anti-terrorism operation” retook control of two strategic positions in eastern Ukraine from pro-Russia gunmen, reportedly without inflicting civilian or insurgent casualties, acting President Oleksandr Turchinov told lawmakers Thursday.
The operation that drove the separatists from positions outside of Kramatorsk and Slovyansk in the turbulent Donetsk region made good on the government’s threat a day earlier to continue efforts to oust the insurgents until they lay down their arms and agree to negotiate their grievances.
But the government’s use of force also defied Russia’s insistence that the interim Ukrainian leadership withdraw its forces from the embattled east if it expects to resolve the conflict and create conditions for a legitimate presidential election on May 25.
The claimed recovery of the two flashpoints occurred after so-called “unity talks” in Kiev, the capital, stalled as soon as they started. Government officials, former Ukrainian presidents, spiritual leaders and other civil society representatives met for more than two hours Wednesday but accomplished little more than pointing out the unpromising task of resolving differences between forces still engaged in armed combat.
Turchinov opened what is intended to be a series of round-table meetings to discuss constitutional changes that would cede more power to Ukraine’s disparate regions. But the first session didn’t include representatives from the pro-Russia rebel factions, as the interim president said the government won’t negotiate with those who have been occupying government facilities and holding a dozen towns and cities at gunpoint.
Leaders of the two eastern regions that declared their independence earlier this week, Donetsk and Luhansk, have said they won’t bargain with Kiev on their status and want only that Ukraine withdraw its troops from their proclaimed “people’s republics.”
Separatist leaders in both regions also have said they won’t facilitate voting in the presidential election of what they now regard as a foreign state.
In his brief address to the Ukrainian parliament in Kiev on Thursday, Turchinov said government forces destroyed what he described as two insurgent “bases,” likely a reference to the fortified roadblocks that have been erected on the outskirts of separatist-held towns in the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces.
He said there were no deaths or injuries inflicted during the operation.