Ukraine launches offensive in east, vows to rid country of ‘parasites’
Ukrainian forces struck at separatist positions in the country’s restive east Tuesday, just hours after President Petro Poroshenko ended an uneasy cease-fire in the region and vowed to rid the area of “parasites.”
The new offensive against pro-Moscow rebels saw pro-Kyiv forces attack rebel bases and checkpoints “from the air and land,” the defense ministry said. Casualty figures were not immediately available.
It came as Russian President Vladimir Putin again sought to blame Western governments for the ongoing crisis, accusing the West of trying to destabilize the whole region. He also reiterated a vow to protect ethnic Russians in Ukraine.
The resumption of full-scale fighting, which followed a cease-fire punctuated by sporadic violence, came as Poroshenko announced in a statement that Ukrainian forces “will attack and will free our country.”
The fragile laying down of arms expired Monday night. The idea had been to give rebels a chance to disarm in order to start a broader peace process including an amnesty and new elections. But rebels did not disarm, and the cease-fire was continually violated.
Additionally, separatists did not comply with Poroshenko’s latest push to get them to turn over key border crossings with Russia and permit international monitoring of the cease-fire.
“The unique chance to put the peace plan into practice was not realized,” Poroshenko said in a speech to the nation. “This happened because of the criminal actions of the fighters.”
In a statement on Facebook he added that Ukraine needed to unite to “free our land from dirt and parasites.”
The Tuesday offensive saw gunfire break out in the center of Donetsk, the capital of one of the two regions that pro-Russian insurgents have declared independent in eastern Ukraine.
Russia warned the authorities in Kyiv that they would be held responsible for the ongoing military operation against separatists after refusing to extend the unilateral cease-fire.
“One will have to answer for the crimes against peaceful civilians,” the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement. “We demand that Ukrainian authorities stop shooting at their own country’s peaceful cities and villages and return to the real and not pretend cease-fire to save people’s lives.”