(AP) Pro-Russia forces shot down two Ukrainian helicopters Friday and Ukraine reported “many” rebels dead and wounded as the interim government in Kiev launched its first major offensive against an insurgency that has seized government buildings across the east.
The Kremlin said Kiev’s offensive against the insurgents “destroyed” the two-week-old Geneva agreement on cooling Ukraine’s crisis.
Fighting broke out around dawn near Slovyansk, a city 160 kilometers (100 miles) from the Russian border that has become the focus of the armed insurgency. Two helicopter crew members were killed in the crashes, both sides said, and pro-Russia militiaman was reported killed.
Acting President Oleksandr Turchynov said two Ukrainian soldiers were killed and seven wounded in Friday’s clashes and the insurgents suffered significant losses, including many killed and injured. By early evening, he said the army now controlled all of the checkpoints around Slovyansk.
One of the helicopters was hit by a surface-to-air missile, the Ukrainian Security Service said, adding that the sophisticated weapon undercut Russia’s claims the city was simply under the control of armed locals. The service said its forces were fighting “highly skilled foreign military men” in Slovyansk.
One wounded helicopter pilot was seen in a Rossia 24 television video as being in the hands of pro-Russia forces.
Central Slovyansk still remained in the hands of pro-Russia gunmen, according to AP journalists in the city. Several foreign news crews were detained for several hours Friday before being released.
A clash also broke out late Friday between pro-Russians and government supporters in Odessa, on the Black Sea coast some 550 kilometers (330 miles) from the turmoil in the east. Odessa had remained largely untroubled by unrest since the February toppling of pro-Russia President Viktor Yanukovych, which ignited tensions in the east. News reports said several people were wounded, but there was no immediate official information.
Turchynov admitted earlier this week that the central government had lost control of the east, where some government troops and police were “either helping or cooperating with terrorist organizations.” He said forces were working to prevent the unrest from spreading to central areas like Odessa.
In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman said the Ukrainian offensive “effectively destroyed the last hope for the implementation of the Geneva agreements” that aimed to defuse the crisis. But Dmitry Peskov said Russia “continues to undertake consistent efforts on de-escalation.”
A day earlier Putin warned Ukraine not to move against the insurgents and said it should withdraw its military from eastern and southern regions.
Ukraine, a nation of 46 million, is deeply divided between those in the west who favor closer ties with Europe and many Russian-speakers in the east who look toward Moscow. Ukraine has accused Russia of backing the insurgents who have seized government buildings in 10 eastern cities and fears that Moscow is seeking a pretext to invade; Russia has already stationed tens of thousands of troops in areas near the Ukrainian border.
Russian troops backed separatists in Ukraine’s Black Sea peninsula of Crimea in March, then annexed the region after a referendum called for secession.
