Ukrainian president orders more troops to eastern region

On Tuesday morning, the separatist leader in the Donetsk region, Alexander Zakharchenko, 38, was sworn in as head of a self-declared secessionist territory.

|
Sergei Chuzavkov/AP
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, left, and Ukraine's Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk during a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine in Kiev, Ukraine, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2014.

Ukraine's president said Tuesday that additional troops are being deployed to the east, where fighting continues to rage between government forces and pro-Russian separatist fighters.

Petro Poroshenko said the units would defend cities still under government control against possible incursions.

His remarks came after Ukrainian security officials claimed over the weekend that Russia has intensified the transfer of troops and military equipment to separatist rebels. Moscow denies it aids the rebels.

"Several new units have been formed that will enable us to repel possible attacks in the direction of Mariupol and Berdyansk, Kharkiv, and areas north of Luhansk and the Dnipropetrovsk region," Poroshenko said, according to a statement on the presidential website.

Tensions have spiked since the weekend, when rebels held an election that was condemned by the West and Ukraine as illegal and destabilizing.

"In recent days, Russia-supported separatists have publicly stated their intention to expand the territory under their control. We strongly condemn ongoing separatist attacks in Meriupol and Dubalsiva and around the Donetsk Airport," US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters in Washington.

"Any attempt to push further into Ukraine would be another violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity and a gross violation of the Minsk agreements signed by Russia, Ukraine, and the separatists," she added, referring to the much-violated case-fire agreed upon in September.

Ukraine and Western governments say Sunday's poll gravely endangered the cease-fire that envisioned local elections across the whole of the east but under Ukrainian law. Russia, however, quickly lent its support to the vote.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, underlining her displeasure over what she said was Russia's role in the conflict, said Tuesday there is no reason yet to lift European Union sanctions against Moscow. Merkel said she hopes for a diplomatic solution to Ukraine's crisis but added the vote shows "how difficult it is even to maintain agreements that have been made, if we look at the illegal elections."

On Tuesday morning, the separatist leader in the Donetsk region, Alexander Zakharchenko, 38, was sworn in as head of a self-declared secessionist territory.

He was inaugurated in a heavily guarded theater in the city of Donetsk, the main stronghold of a rebel-controlled territory that separatists call the Donetsk People's Republic.

Zakharchenko's election was largely a formality as no strong candidates opposed him, but the rebels say the vote gives them a mandate to pursue their secessionist goals.

Zakharchenko took the stage after four sabre-wielding Cossacks carried in the flag of the Donetsk People's Republic. He swore the oath of office with his hand on a Bible to applause and whistles from audience members — many of them men in combat fatigues carrying automatic rifles.

Lawmakers from Russia and Georgia's breakaway republic of Abkhazia, whose independence is recognized only by Russia and three other countries, later mounted the stage. Russian lawmaker Alexei Zhuravlev congratulated Zakharchenko, declaring: "Russia doesn't give up on its own."

Post-inauguration entertainment included a traditional Russian dance troupe led by a performer in a bear suit.

The inauguration coincided with Russia's National Unity Day holiday, which saw rallies throughout the country, including one in Moscow that police estimated at 75,000 participants.

The march in the center of the capital included banners reading "Crimea is ours" — the Ukrainian region annexed by Russia in March — and "Novorossiya — we are with you." The separatist Ukrainian regions are widely referred to by that name, which means "New Russia" and reflects the widespread opinion that eastern Ukraine is historically and ethnically part of Russia.

The rally in central Moscow incorporated mainstream political groupings, but hard-line nationalists held a separate march of several thousand in the suburb of Lyublino. Police arrested several demonstrators there who tried to light fires.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Ukrainian president orders more troops to eastern region
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Latest-News-Wires/2014/1104/Ukrainian-president-orders-more-troops-to-eastern-region
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe