Ukraine's National Guard radicals shoot dead 10 soldiers who wished to side with federalists - people's mayor
18 May 2014, 13:15 -- National Guard militants have shot dead ten soldiers who wanted to defect to self-defense volunteer forces in the town of Slavyansk in eastern Ukraine, Stella Khorosheva, the official spokeswoman for Slavyansk People's Mayor Vyacheslav Ponomaryov, told the RIA Novosti news agency by telephone on Sunday.
'Ten soldiers wanted to join us but were shot dead by Ukrainian Guard commanders,' she said.
Khorosheva could say nothing about casualties among self-defense fighters.
For now, there are no clashes inside the city, but an unmanned aircraft has been noticed over the railway station, she said.
Earlier, Miroslav Rudenko, co-chairman of the government of the Donetsk People's Republic and deputy leader of the self-defense corps, reported full-scale hostilities in Slavyansk and neighboring Kramatorsk in the north of Donetsk region on Sunday morning.
Clashes between self-defense forces and National Guard militants near Slavyansk were reported overnight.
Anger rising in Ukrainian army over Kiev policies
There have been signs of brewing anger in the Ukrainian Armed Forces as many servicemen are increasingly displeased with Kiev's policies.
On Saturday, a group of self-defense fighters held talks with servicemen deployed at an airfield near Kramatorsk.
'They say they don't want war, they don't want to shoot or kill anyone. Many come from our region. But they refuse to surrender – they have orders to obey,' a spokesman for the self-defense forces told reporters.
Discontent among the servicemen has been fueled by worsening food supplies, the spokesman said.
Also stationed at the airport are about 70 representatives of some unknown organizations, probably Right Sector radicals.
'They wear black uniforms without any insignia and don't communicate with the military,' the spokesman said.
Slavyansk under fire, self-defense not letting Ukrainian law enforcers advance - people's mayor
Vyacheslav Ponomaryov, 'the people's mayor' of Slavyansk, has reported the elimination of up to seven Ukrainian law enforcers who tried to storm the city Saturday night. 'The city came under fire yesterday afternoon and continued throughout the night. Our self-defense force joined the fighting and eliminated up to seven attackers,' he said to Interfax.
Quoting early reports he said nobody was killed on the self-defense side but one man was severely wounded. Law enforcers continue using various types of weapons, including howitzers and mortars, against the city, Ponomaryov added.
'They are trying to advance further inside the city. We are not letting them do that but keep them in the outskirts,' he said.
Fighting intensifies near Slavyansk, Kramatorsk in Ukraine's Donetsk region
Full-scale hostilities continue near the towns of Slavyansk and Kramatorsk in the north of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, Miroslav Rudenko, co-chairman of the government of the Donetsk People's Republic and deputy commander of the local self-defense volunteer corps, told the RIA Novosti News agency.
Fighting intensified on Sunday morning, he said.
Clashes near Slavyansk and Kramatorsk resumed in the early hours of Saturday.
'Things got particularly tough in the morning. There are full-scale hostilities around Slavyansk and Kramatorsk,' Rudenko said.
He said he had no information about casualties.
Stella Khorosheva, the official spokeswoman for the People's Mayor of Slavyansk, confirmed to RIA Novosti that battles had flared on throughout Saturday.
'But now it's relatively calm,' she told a RIA Novosti correspondent a few hours earlier.
Shoot-out between Ukraine's military and local self-defense takes place in Kramatorsk
A shoot-out between Ukrainian military and self-defense forces occurred on Saturday at the Kramatorsk airport, Donetsk region, according to the Defense Ministry of Ukraine.
Neither Civilians nor Ukrainian military were injured during the shooting, the statement says, Interfax reports.
Ukraine National Guard soldiers accused of 'treachery'
Ukraine's National Guard said on Saturday that a group of its soldiers had gone over to the Donetsk People's Republic's side on Friday, and that this was one of the reasons for the decision to redeploy the local Guard unit.
'As a result of the treachery of a group of regular soldiers who had taken an oath of loyalty to the Donetsk People's Republic, and in order to prevent bloodshed among conscripted soldiers, the command of the Eastern Territorial Operational Unit of the Ukrainian National Guard decided to redeploy personnel with armaments to Military Compound No. 2 of military unit 3037,' the National Guard command said.
'Currently competent authorities are investigating the incident,' it said. Prosecutors were investigating 'the soldiers' treachery,' Interfax reports.
Kiev legalizes Maidan far-right fighters creating National Guard
The so-called council of Kiev Maidan activists has approved an order whereby volunteers will be operating within National Guard battalions, territorial army battalions and other units designed to provide law and order and territorial integrity in Ukraine, according to a document posted on Facebook on Tuesday by the Secretary of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council and former Maidan commandant Andriy Parubiy.
Maidan fighters will join the Interior Ministry's national guard, special public order units, army territorial battalions and other armed groups operating and created by the authorities in order to 'defend Ukraine'.
The core duties of the self-defense forces will be 'to form various government security units within the shortest period of time and fill them with patriots who will mount an armed defense of Ukraine's territorial integrity and independence,' and 'maintain public order in non-combat areas, form a reserve and provide material and technical aid to regular battalions,' according to the document, Interfax reports.
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