Ukraine Conflict Reaches ‘Turning Point’ As Army Pushes Rebels Out Of Slovyansk

Ukrainian government forces pushed insurgents out of the eastern city of Slovyansk on Saturday, according to several news reports.

The city has been held by pro-Russian rebels for months, a key flashpoint in the ongoing turmoil since the government of Viktor Yanukovych fell earlier this year. The New York Times reports that the removal of insurgents may not be “a decisive blow,” but does indicate that “Ukrainian forces [are] finally gaining traction and reasserting state authority in eastern Ukraine.”

President Petro Poroshenko ordered that the blue-and-yellow flag of Ukraine be raised over the city on Saturday, and in a statement reported by the Times, declared that while “it’s not a time for fireworks…clearing Slovyansk of extremely well-armed bandits has a very symbolic meaning.” He added that the victory was “a turning point” in the fight against the separatists.

“Today we have a watershed moment in the fight against terrorism in the east of our country,” Speaker Oleksandr Turchynov said Saturday, according to the independent Kyiv Post, an online newspaper that covers events in Ukraine.

Turchynov added that Slovyansk “will become the symbol of the victory of independent and united Ukraine over Russian mercenaries and terrorists.”

The Kyiv Post also quoted “a rebel commander who Ukraine believes to be a Russian intelligence officer” as saying that “militiamen are starting to lose the will to continue fighting” because of the change in fortunes.

But according to another rebel leader quoted by the Washington Post, the retreat from Slovyansk did not signal a collapse of their forces but rather an attempt to protect the city’s civilians.

“What would you do, if you were being thrashed by mortars, artillery weapons, being bombed from the air – and you had three tanks and machine guns?” Andrei Purgin reportedly told Interfax.

As his country’s flag was raised over Slovyansk Saturday, Poroshenko also called for new peace talks with the separatists, according to Reuters. The news service cites “a Western diplomat” as pointing to Donetsk, another key eastern city that has been under rebel control, as a likely location for the talks.

Denis Pushilin, leader of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, also took to Twitter to decry what he portrayed as Russian betrayal, according to the Washington Post. The newspaper quoted a tweet as saying

What to say. They encouraged us. Encouraged us and abandoned us. Putin’s words about protecting the Russian people, protecting Novorossiya, they were beautiful. But they were only words.

An English-language version of the tweet could not be found to verify the quote as of Saturday evening.

But while the rebels driven out of Slovyansk and elsewhere within Ukraine may be feeling betrayed, U.S. President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday “stressed that Russia must take immediate steps to de-escalate the conflict in eastern Ukraine” and “expressed their support for diplomatic efforts to pursue a sustainable ceasefire,” according to a White House readout of their phone call.

[photo: Global Post]