Ukraine launches assault to retake rebel-held towns

SLAVYANSK, Ukraine, Apr 24 (AFP): Ukraine's military launched assaults to retake rebel-held eastern towns on Thursday in which up to five people were reported killed, a move Russian President Vladimir Putin warned would have "consequences".
The offensive sent international tensions soaring and oil prices up, raising the prospect of Russia making good on its threat of a massive response in the ex-Soviet republic.
In Slavyansk, a flashpoint east Ukrainian town held by rebels since mid-April, armoured military vehicles drove past an abandoned roadblock in flames to take up position, AFP reporters saw.
Shots were heard as a helicopter flew overhead, and the pro-Kremlin rebels ordered all civilians out of the town hall to take up defensive positions inside.
"During the clashes, up to five terrorists were eliminated," and three checkpoints destroyed, the interior ministry said in a statement. Regional medical authorities confirmed one death and one person wounded.
Earlier Thursday, Ukrainian special forces seized back control of the town hall in the southeastern port city of Mariupol with no casualties, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said. Separatist sources confirmed the loss of the building in the port city, whose population is 500,000.
 "If Kiev has really begun to use the army against the country's population... that is a very serious crime against its own people," Russian President Vladimir Putin said, calling Kiev's authorities a "junta".
He warned of "consequences, including for our intergovernmental relations".
US President Barack Obama on Thursday accused Russia of not abiding by the Geneva deal and warned more sanctions could be imposed on Moscow within days.
"We continue to see malicious, armed men taking over buildings, harassing folks who are disagreeing with them, destabilising the region and we haven't seen Russia step out and discouraging it," he said Thursday during a trip to Japan.
Russia, though, claims Washington and the Ukrainian government are reneging on their responsibilities, despite Kiev vowing to give an amnesty to the rebels, protect the Russian language and decentralise power.