Blasts and shooting have been heard Saturday afternoon in the eastern Ukrainian city Mariupol, where deadly clashes between Ukraine’s armed forces and pro-federalization activists took place on Friday, the local 0629 news website said. An infantry fighting vehicle is burning near the City Council, the local website informs. Ukrainian law enforcers are carrying out a special operation with the use of armored vehicles against supporters of federalization of Ukraine in Mariupol, the Donetsk region.
“Gunshots and explosions are heard in the center of Mariupol… The sky above the building of the City Council is enveloped in smoke again. It became known that an infantry fighting vehicle is burning near the City Council,” the report says.
Two servicemen killed in Mariupol – Ukraine’s Defense Ministry
A deputy commander and a machine gunner of the battalion of territorial defense were killed in Mariupol on Friday, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reports Saturday. “On May 9, deputy commander of the battalion of territorial defense, Colonel Demidenko Sergey Vladimirovich was killed in Mariupol. The car, in which he was sitting, was treacherously attacked from ambush,” the report says.
During a clash with supporters of federalization occupying the building of the Mariupol City Department of the Interior Ministry, a machine gunner of the battalion of territorial defense, soldier Oleg Eisman was killed, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine adds.
Ukrainian law enforcers are carrying out a special operation with the use of armored vehicles against supporters of federalization of Ukraine in Mariupol, the Donetsk region. The Donetsk regional administration with reference to medical services of Mariupol reports that seven people were killed and 39 were hospitalized during the operation on Friday. Head of the MIA of Ukraine, Arsen Avakov previously said that about 20 militiamen had been killed during the special operation.
May 10 declared mourning day in Mariupol – city council
May 10 is a day of mourning in Mariupol, Donetsk region. “May 10, 2014, has been declared a day of mourning due to the tragic events, which occurred on May 9, 2014, and claimed human lives,” the Mariupol City Council press service reported on Saturday. The Mariupol City Council presented profound condolences to the families and friends of the deceased.
Ukrainian armed forces claims pullback from Mariupol center
Ukrainian National Guard units have pulled back from the flashpoint of confrontations in Mariupol in order not to provoke the activists and to ensure the security of the civilian population, the National Guard press service reports.
“As of 8 am on May 10 tensions persisted in the city of Mariupol. The Ukrainian National Guard command and servicemen are doing everything in their power to achieve stabilization in the city,” the report runs.
According to the Ukrainian side, one serviceman died and four were injured in the May 9 clashes near the city police department.
The Ukrainian servicemen tried to storm the department building where policemen, who had refused to obey orders from Kiev, had barricaded themselves in. A fire broke out and the department building burned to the ground. In all, seven people died and 39 sustained injuries in the army operation in Mariupol, Donetsk region, the regional administration’s health department said.
Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said one law enforcement officer died and five were injured in the fighting. He claimed the death of about 20 militiamen and the capture of four.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry reported injuries of eight army servicemen in the course of the Mariupol operation.
OSCE strongly condemns deadly violence in Ukraine’s Mariupol
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has strongly condemned Friday’s deadly violence in the eastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol, in the Donetsk Region, and urged the conflicting sides to take “immediate steps” towards the resolution of the conflict.
Ukrainian law enforcers reportedly attacked participants in the Victory Day rally on May 9 in Mariupol as they gathered in front of the local police department building in an attempt to prevent its seizure by law enforcers.
The Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, Ambassador Ertugrul Apakan, said in a statement posted on the organization’s website that “he was saddened to hear of the deadly fighting today in Mariupol.”
“I strongly condemn the violence, and call upon all parties to exercise maximum restraint and to take immediate steps to de-escalate a situation which has caused the loss of many lives, and created a climate of fear and anxiety,” Apakan stated.
Russia’s Rossiya-24 television channel reported earlier that Ukraine’s law enforcers, who are conducting the so-called “counter-terrorist operation” in Mariupol, used armored vehicles against civilians on May 9.
Data on the number of victims in Mariupol’s violence on Friday varies. Rossiya-24 reported citing the press service of the Donetsk region administration that three were killed and 25 wounded, while the Ukrainian Interior Ministry stated that about 20 protesters and one policeman were killed and five more wounded.
According to earlier reports, a freelance staffer of Russia’s RT television channel was also wounded in Mariupol hostilities.
Vitaly Ivanov, a spokesman for the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, said in an interview with Itar-Tass that 20 civilians had been wounded and ten killed in fire, which the armored vehicles opened.
According to Ivanov, Ukrainian law enforcers opened gunfire on policemen inside the building. Eyewitnesses said the building was riddled with bullets and then set on fire.
Ivanov added that in a separate development of events Ukrainian law enforcers also set ablaze the building of the Mariupol City Council.
Massive protests against the new Ukrainian authorities, who were propelled to power in Kiev as a result of a coup in February, erupted in the country’s Russian-speaking southeastern territories after Crimea’s merger with Russia on March 18.
Southeastern Ukrainian protesters, who seek the country’s federalization and demand broader powers for their regions, have seized some of the government buildings in the region.
The Kiev authorities launched the so-called “antiterrorism operation” in eastern Ukraine. Russia, which does not recognize the de facto Ukrainian leaders, had condemned the operation, apparently aimed to crack down on Ukrainian federalization supporters.
