NEWSWATCH: First Shots Rile Pro-Russian Crowds in Ukraine; Ukraine’s ‘Antiterrorist’ Operation Runs Into Strong Passions in Eastern City

Maidan Square file photo

[“First Shots Rile Pro-Russian Crowds in Ukraine; Ukraine’s ‘Antiterrorist’ Operation Runs Into Strong Passions in Eastern City” – Wall Street Journal – James Marson – April 16, 2014]

The Wall Street Journal covers the Ukrainian government’s military deployment against separatists in eastern Ukraine:

Ukraine launched what it called an antiterrorist operation Tuesday, deploying a couple of hundred paratroopers and elite security-service officers near the town of Izyum, just north of the cities that have fallen under the control of pro-Russian militias in recent days.

A limited number of shots reportedly were fired at a military airport in Kramatorsk, where some of the separatists apparently admitted they were armed.

Alexei, who wouldn’t give his last name, said he and around 40 other pro-Russian activists had approached the gates of the airfield earlier Tuesday to find out who was stationed there and to urge the soldiers to side with them.

Soldiers inside opened fire, injuring Alexei and two others who were sent to a hospital, several activists at the scene said.

Pressed whether his comrades had been carrying weapons, he conceded: ‘Maybe a couple.’

Accounts of the incident reportedly have varied, with the Ukrainian government and bystanders differing over whether there were one or three person injured, while Russian media claimed eleven people were actually killed, while a local hospital saw no patients connected with the incident:

The clash outside the military airport didn’t last long but it left both sides with tales of heroism and wrongdoing in this city of some 200,000, best known for its huge machine-building plant.

Ukraine’s acting president told the Parliament in Kiev that special forces had “freed the airport from terrorists.” The Interior Ministry later said that its special units had fought off an assault by armed attackers.

The Interior Ministry said there was one injury, although people outside the base said three, including Alexei. Russian state media reported as many as 11 dead. A doctor at the city hospital was cited by local media as saying it hadn’t received any people for treatment in connection with the incident.

Meanwhile, back near Izyum, Gen. Vasyl Krutov, head of the overall operation for Ukraine and deputy chief of Ukraine’s security service, tried personally addressing a crowd of protesters, only for the scene to turn into a minor melee.  While trying to reenter a gate, the general briefly lost his cap fending off elderly protesters and young men, as soldiers fired what sounded like blanks.

Click here to read “First Shots Rile Pro-Russian Crowds in Ukraine; Ukraine’s ‘Antiterrorist’ Operation Runs Into Strong Passions in Eastern City” 

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

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