Rebels shoot down 2 Ukrainian fighter jets
KYIV/ SEATTLE/ MOSCOW Pro-Russian rebels shot down two Ukrainian fighter jets on Wednesday, not far from where a Malaysian airliner was brought down last week in eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 passengers on board.
A spokesman for Ukraine’s military operations said the planes were downed near Savur Mogila, a burial mound in the Shaktersky region where a memorial marks ambushes by the Soviet army on occupying Nazis during World War II. He said he did not have any information about the pilots.
Igor Strelkov, who is now in charge of the rebel ranks in the eastern city of Donetsk, said the separatists had brought down one plane and that the pilot had ejected.
Residents said the rebels, who rose up in April demanding independence from Kyiv in the mainly Russian-speaking east, had dug trenches in downtown Donetsk outside the main university, where they have been living in student dormitories.
“In Donetsk, rebels abandoned their positions en masse and went towards the central part of the city,” the headquarters of what Kyiv calls its “anti-terrorist operation” said in a statement.
“It cannot be ruled out that the appearance of such movements could suggest the spread of panic and attempts to leave the place of warfare.”
Late on Tuesday, US President Barack Obama accused Russia of financing Ukraine rebels and said challenges overseas were causing anxiety among Americans at home.
Obama made his remarks during a fundraiser for Democrats in Seattle. The president been criticised for proceeding with a series of fundraisers outside Washington despite the crises in Ukraine and the Middle East.
Also on Wednesday, Ukraine’s western-backed government said that it was preparing to slap sanctions on Russia for backing pro-Moscow separatists in the ex-Soviet state.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said a special committee had been set up to draw up a raft of economic sanctions against any Russian individuals, officials or companies accused of supporting rebels battling government troops in the east of the country.
“Ukraine will introduce sanctions against every individual with a Russian passport who supports the terrorists and separatists in Ukraine,” Yatsenyuk said.
Meanwhile, a Russian TV channel said it had lost contact with a British journalist reporting from conflict-torn eastern Ukraine.
RT said on its website it had been unable to reach Graham Phillips since the early hours of Wednesday after he went to cover intense fighting around Donetsk airport.
Russia is struggling with a flood of refugees who already number half a million from the fighting in eastern Ukraine, and many appear increasingly likely to stay, officials and activists said.