Ukrainian government forces have retaken control of Donetsk airport after a day of heavy fighting, coming on the heels of a poll that saw pro-Western billionaire Petro Poroshenko become the country’s new president.
“Our opponents have suffered significant losses, while we [have suffered] none,” said Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, adding that the government would continue military efforts to crush the movement of pro-Russian separatists despite Moscow’s calls for an immediate end to the operation.
“The anti-terror operation in Donetsk [will] continue until all terrorists are destroyed or have given themselves up,” Olexiy Dmytrashovskyi, a Defence Ministry spokesman, was quoted by local media as saying.
Avakov told reporters that the airport, which was modernized in 2012 and remained closed on Tuesday, was “completely under control” after a stand-off there brought violent clashes to within 10 kilometres of central Donetsk, the region’s largest city.
The minister said that the government had conducted airstrikes and deployed paratroops to curb the unrest, adding that a separatist training camp in neighbouring Luhansk had been destroyed by Ukrainian forces.
Dozens of people are said to have been killed in Monday’s clashes.
Defence Ministry spokesman Dmytrashovskyi said that no fewer than 200 separatist fighters had been killed, though rebels denied this.
Pavel Gubarev, the self-declared “people’s governor” of Donetsk, said on Facebook that 35 people were killed and 15 injured Monday when troops fired at a lorry carrying injured fighters from the airport to a hospital.
Interior Minister Arsen Aavakov merely said that the rebels suffered substantial losses while government troops suffered none.
Fighting was continuing on Tuesday, with unknown gunmen storming the Donetsk ice hockey stadium and setting it on fire. The Druzhba arena was reconstructed in 2010 and has a capacity of 4,000.
The fighting comes one day after Poroshenko’s election victory was confirmed after weekend presidential elections.
Poroshenko has said that the military campaign against separatists should continue, while promising to reach out to the people of eastern Ukraine and to Russia.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday congratulated the billionaire on his victory. During a telephone conversation, she told Poroshenko that the election result underpinned efforts for a unified Ukraine.
The Ukrainian government accuses Russia of covert support for the fighters, many of whom are believed to be from Russia.
The Ukrainian border guard service said Tuesday that a column of lorries and vans with armed men illegally crossed the border from Russia during the night.
One of the men was seriously injured in an ensuing firefight with border guards, the statement said. It added that some of the vehicles managed to pass and drove towards the eastern Ukrainian city of Antratsit.
Also on Tuesday, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) reported that it has lost contact with a team of its observers in eastern Ukraine.
The team of four was on a routine patrol near Donetsk when contact was lost on Monday. Subsequent attempts to re-establish contact have been unsuccessful.
The Ukrainian government as well as the regional authorities have been apprised of the situation, the OSCE said from Vienna.
In Brussels, meanwhile, European Union leaders are due later Tuesday to discuss Ukraine’s presidential election and the way forward for the country.
The EU has praised the “successful” election as an “opportunity for a fresh start,” and has also welcomed Russia’s willingness to enter into dialogue with the new president.
The bloc had previously threatened to ratchet up sanctions against Russia if Moscow is seen to be continuing to destabilize the situation in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s ambassador to the European Union took a tough stance on sanctions on Tuesday, expressing frustration with the hesitance displayed by some governments.
“We should not appease the aggressor,” Kostiantyn Yelisieiev said in an interview. “The EU should not wait for new red lines to be crossed by the Russian Federation.” He called for economic sanctions such as “cutting Russia off from the global financial system,” but also “creative” measures such as taking away Russia’s hosting of the 2018 World Cup or not allowing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s daughter to live in the Netherlands.
“We need to surprise Russia,” Yelisieiev said. “When Russia invades the territory of Ukraine, it will be too late to impose sanctions ...
This is the real time when the EU should show their unity, that their commitment to defend European values is not only on paper.”