WORLD_ UKRAINE_ Violence escalates in eastern Ukraine, Odessa

Violence escalates in eastern Ukraine, Odessa

Anna Arutunyan, Special for USA TODAY 11:13 a.m. EDT May 5, 2014


ODESSA, Ukraine — Ukraine forces battled pro-Russian militants in East Ukraine in pitched battles as militants in Odessa vowed to retake buildings they were forced out of amid clashes that left more than 40 people dead.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian troops pressed forward with an offensive against militants in Slovyansk, a city in East Ukraine that has become a center of militant unrest.

Gunfire and multiple explosions could be heard in the city of 125,000 people where many want to secede to Russia but many also do not. The United States and Kiev say the takeovers are an illegal attempt by militants to overthrow the elected government of Ukraine with the help of Moscow.

Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said about 800 pro-Russia forces were deploying large-caliber weapons and mortars, Russia's state-controlled Interfax news agency reported. He said four officers killed and 30 wounded in the fighting.

Pro-Russian Ukrainians in the Black Sea port city of Odessa that was free of serious political violence until recently vowed to take city buildings after attending the funeral of a politician who died in a fire that killed more than 40 people.

Regional parliament member Vyacheslav Markin, a well-known opponent of the Ukraine government, was buried on Monday while about 300 pro-Russian supporters shouted "Hero, hero!"

Markin died Sunday after he and 41 others were caught in a building fire during clashes Friday between Ukrainians who want independence from the central government of Kiev and Ukrainians who say Markin's movement is a ploy to secede to Russia.

Many people at the funeral wore the St. George black-and-orange ribbon that is a symbol of pro-Russian armed militants who have taken over government buildings by force with the help of Russian military officers who have infiltrated Ukraine.

"This city has never seen such upheaval, such moments in history are not forgotten," said Pyotr Volkov, a doctor and a former local lawmaker who was a friend of Markin's.

Ukraine Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk visited Odessa and said Russia is directing "well-prepared and organized action against people, against Ukraine, and against Odessa." He also blamed government security forces for failing to prevent the fighting in Odessa, calling the deaths a "tragedy of all of Ukraine."

Pro-Russian demonstrators stormed police headquarters on Sunday and won the release of 67 people detained there following the weekend fighting.

STORY: Ukrainian troops intensify fight against separatists


The fighting in Odessa escalated Friday when supporters of Ukraine's government tried to clear an encampment of Russian sympathizers on Kulikovo Field Square, burning their tents. Pro-Russians took refuge in the trade union hall on the square. Gas bombs thrown by both sides are believed to have triggered the fire.

"I am shocked that this happened, I can't believe it," said Svetlana Lvova, a teacher who came to lay flowers in the burned-out trade union hall. "Husbands and wives are fighting with each other about what side to take."

Flowers, candles and the bloodied clothes of the dead activists mingled with debris, broken glass and ashes. Men were seen sobbing out loud.

"I don't want to be called a separatist. We don't want to secede from Ukraine," said Anatoly Kuznetsov, a local archivist who lives in Odessa but whose family, like those of many here, has Russian roots. "But we hope that Russia won't leave us in our sorrow. We are weak. We are not aggressive."

Kiev has blamed pro-Russian separatists for provoking the bloodshed, while ethnic Russians blamed pro-Ukrainian radicals.

Moscow annexed Ukraine's breakaway republic of Crimea and has threatened to invade Ukraine to protect the Russian-speaking population there after months of pro-Western demonstrations in Kiev toppled the pro-Moscow regime of president Viktor Yanukovych in February amid street clashes that killed some 100 people.

The situation in Odessa, Ukraine's southernmost city outside of the province of Crimea, is different in that the groups clashing with each other did not appear as well organized as those in the northeast, closer to the Russian border.

"Maybe we should have spoken out louder about what the people wanted, but we could not be heard," said Volkov on the sidelines of Vyacheslav Markin's funeral. "[Markin] spoke out louder than most. Maybe his death will unify and awake people."

Volkov said he supported wider autonomy for Ukraine's regions. But he said that this could and should be achieved without Russia's help.

"I think we can decide on our own fate. But for that to happen the people have to be heard, we have to learn to listen to people with different opinions," Volkov said. "We don't need help from America or from Russia."

In the streets of Odessa, there were young men in fatigues armed with clubs and sticks, though it was unclear whether they were pro-Russian or pro-Ukrainian.

The storming of the Odessa police station by hundreds of pro-Russians to free several activists arrested in clashes has many here worried that the violence in only beginning. The act angered Kiev loyalists.

On Monday, a Ukrainian flag was hoisted in front of the burned-out building. It had been raised by hundreds of pro-Ukrainians, some armed with sticks and clubs, who marched on Kulikovo Field Square to show their strength.



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