FE Today Logo
Search date: 07-07-2014 Return to current date: Click here

Ukraine\\\'s first big win over rebels dims truce hopes

July 07, 2014 00:00:00


KIEV, July 6 (AFP): Resurgent Ukrainian forces on Sunday pursued retreating pro-Russian rebels after seizing their symbolic bastion in a morale-boosting win that appeared to dim hopes for a ceasefire in the bloody separatist insurgency.

Western-backed President Petro Poroshenko called the moment when his troops hoisted the Ukrainian flag over the militias' seat of power in Slavyansk "a turning point" in a campaign that has killed nearly 500 people and inflamed East-West ties.

The rebels admitted suffering heavy losses while abandoning the strategic city nearly three months to the day after its capture marked the onset of a new and even more bloody chapter in Ukraine's worst crisis since independence in 1991.

Most analysts think Poroshenko desperately needed a battlefield success one month into his presidency to secure the trust of Ukrainians frustrated by their underfunded army's inability to stand up to what they see as Russian aggression.

"This is not a full victory and no time for fireworks," the 48-year-old chocolate baron cautioned in a national television address.

He noted the insurgents were now regrouping around the million-strong eastern industrial hub of Donetsk and vowed to flush out "terrorists who are entrenching themselves in large cities".

A top commander in the Ukrainian irregular forces' Donbass battalion on Sunday reported recapturing the cities of Druzhkivka and Kostiantynivka just south of Slavyansk.

The surge of optimism in Kiev has only added to already strong pressure on Poroshenko not to agree to another truce with the insurgents, which is being pushed hard by Ukraine's Western allies.

Poroshenko tore up a 10-day ceasefire last Monday, citing unceasing rebel attacks that killed more than 20 soldiers and -- according to both Washington and Kiev -- allowed the separatists to stock up on new supplies of heavy Russian arms.

Uneasy EU leaders are hoping that a new truce and a Kremlin promise not to meddle can take pressure off the bloc to adopt sweeping sanctions that could damage their own strong energy and financial ties with Russia.

Poroshenko hesitantly invited separatist leaders and a Russian envoy to attend European-brokered discussions about a new ceasefire on Saturday.


Share if you like