Rockets kill 30 in Ukrainian port city as rebels launch offensive
KYIV, Ukraine — Indiscriminate rocket fire slammed into a industry, schools, houses and shops Saturday in Ukraine’s southeastern city of Mariupol, killing at least 30 individuals, authorities said. The Ukrainian president named the blitz a terrorist attack and NATO and the U.S. demanded that Russia stop supporting the rebels.
Ukrainian officials rushed to defend the strategically critical port on the Sea of Azov, beefing up military positions with more gear and sending in more forces.
The separatists’ leading leader declared that an offensive against Mariupol had begun — then later toned down his threats as the scale of the civilian casualties became clear.
President Petro Poroshenko held an emergency meeting of his military officials and cut quick a trip to Saudi Arabia to coordinate the government’s response.
“The time has come to name their sponsors. The assistance given to militants, weapons deliveries, gear and the coaching of manpower — is this not aiding terrorism?” Poroshenko stated in a recorded statement.
Russia insists it does not support the rebels, but Western military officials say the sheer quantity of heavy weapons under rebel control belies that claim.
A reporter saw convoys of pristine heavy weapons in rebel territory earlier this week.
The rocket attacks came a day right after the rebels rejected a peace deal and announced they have been going on a multi-prong offensive against the government in Kyiv to vastly increase their territory.Advertisement The rebel stance has upended European attempts to mediate an end to the fighting in eastern Ukraine, which the U.N. says has killed practically five,100 individuals considering that April.
Mariupol, a big city beneath government handle, lies amongst mainland Russia and the Russia-annexed Crimean Peninsula. Heavy fighting in the area in the fall raised fears that Russian-backed separatist forces would try to capture city to establish a land hyperlink involving Russia and Crimea.
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said three separate strikes from Grad many-rocket launchers hit Mariupol and its surrounding areas Saturday.
“The region that came below attack was enormous,” Mariupol mayor Yuriy Khotlubei mentioned. “The shelling was carried out by militants. This is incredibly clearly Russian aggression that has brought on terrible losses for the residents of the eastern element of our city.”
The Donetsk regional government loyal to Kyiv said at least 30 people — such as a 15-year old girl and a 5-year old boy — died in the attacks. A Ukrainian military checkpoint close to the city was also hit and one particular serviceman was killed, the Defense Ministry said.
The RIA Novosti news agency cited Ukrainian rebel leader Alexander Zakharchenko as saying an offensive had begun on Mariupol. He spoke as he laid a wreath Saturday exactly where at least eight civilians died when a bus quit was shelled Thursday in Donetsk, the biggest rebel-held city in eastern Ukraine.
Zakharchenko swiftly backtracked, nonetheless. He denied that his forces have been accountable for Saturday’s carnage, saying it was brought on by Ukrainian error. He also mentioned the Ukrainian defenses positions around Mariupol would be destroyed but the city itself would not be stormed.
But the Organization for Safety and Cooperation’s monitoring mission mentioned the attack on Mariupol was brought on by Grad and Uragan rockets fired from regions below rebel handle.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry stated the rebels’ new offensive “has been aided and abetted by Russia’s irresponsible and unsafe selection to resupply them in current weeks with hundreds of new pieces of sophisticated weaponry.”
“I join my European counterparts in condemning in the strongest terms today’s horrific assault by Russia-backed separatists on civilian neighborhoods in Mariupol,” Kerry mentioned in a statement, citing reports of dozens wounded as effectively.
He urged Russia to close its international border with Ukraine and withdraw all weapons, fighters and financial backing from the separatists or face improved U.S. and international pressure. The European Union and the U.S. have currently hit Russia with sanctions for its actions in Ukraine, moves that have hurt the Russian economy.
EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini echoed Kerry’s demands.
NATO Secretary Basic Jens Stoltenberg also condemned the Mariupol shelling and the enhanced presence of Russian forces in Ukraine.
“Russian troops in eastern Ukraine are supporting these offensive operations with command-and-handle systems, air defense systems with advanced surface-to-air missiles, unmanned aerial systems, sophisticated several rocket launcher systems and electronic warfare systems,” he said.
A peace deal signed in September in the Belarusian capital of Minsk envisaged a cease-fire and a pullout of heavy weapons from a division line in eastern Ukraine, but that was repeatedly violated by both sides. Foreign ministers from Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany agreed Wednesday to revive that division line but the rebels on Friday rejected the whole Minsk deal.
Senior envoys from Ukraine, Russia and the OSCE issued a statement Saturday convening an urgent meeting next week to restart the Minsk peace method.
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