BLAHODATNE, Ukraine (AP) — In the deadliest raid yet on
Ukrainian troops, pro-Russia insurgents attacked a military checkpoint
Thursday, killing 16 soldiers, and the interim prime minister accused
Moscow of trying to disrupt the upcoming election for a new president to
lead the divided country out of its crisis.
A rebel commander
said one of his fighters also died in the raid in eastern Ukraine, which
left a gruesome scene of charred military vehicles and scorched bodies
near the town of Volnovakha, 30 kilometers (20 miles) south of the city
of Donetsk.
Witnesses, including a medical worker, said more than
30 Ukrainian troops were wounded, with some in grave condition. Fighting
also raged in at least two other villages.
The armed uprising and
the government’s offensive to put it down have cast a shadow over
Sunday’s election, with Kiev acknowledging it will be impossible to hold
the vote in some areas. In the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk,
where separatists have declared independence and pledged to derail the
vote, election workers reported threats and interference from gunmen.
Interim
Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk accused Russia of escalating the
conflict and trying to disrupt the election. In a post on Facebook, he
called for an urgent session of the U.N. Security Council and said
Ukraine would present evidence of Moscow’s involvement.
In the
attack on the checkpoint, residents said the rebels arrived in an
armored bank truck, which the unsuspecting Ukrainian soldiers waved
through. The rebels opened fire with automatic weapons and
rocket-propelled grenades, acting President Oleksandr Turchynov said.
The
Donetsk regional administration and a Health Ministry official said 16
soldiers were killed. Associated Press journalists saw 11 dead soldiers
in the field near the village of Blahodatne, outside Volnovakha.
Ukraine’s
Defense Ministry said the attackers hit an ammunition section in one of
the military vehicles, which exploded in a fireball. Three blackened
armored infantry vehicles, their turrets blown away, and several burned
trucks stood at the site. Bodies apparently burned by the explosion and
fire were scattered nearby.
A leading rebel commander claimed
responsibility for the raid. In the courtyard of the occupied police
headquarters of the town of Horlivka, he displayed seized Ukrainian
weapons and the passports of what he said were two of the dead soldiers.
He also provided coordinates about the location of the attack shortly
after it had occurred. There was no way to confirm his claim
independently.
"We destroyed a checkpoint of the fascist Ukrainian
army deployed on the land of the Donetsk Republic," said the commander,
who wore a balaclava and insisted he be identified by his nom de
guerre, "Bes" — Russian for "demon." He said one of his men also was
killed.
Pavel Gubarev, a representative of the separatist Donetsk
People’s Republic, denied its men had carried out the attack, however.
Gubarev, who does not appear to have much influence with the separatist
group, appeared on Russian TV and accused Ukrainian nationalists from
the group Right Sector of firing on Ukrainian soldiers because they had
refused to attack civilians.
Many in the east resent the
government in Kiev, seeing it as led by nationalists bent on repressing
the Russian-speaking minority. The interim government came to power in
February after months of street protests chased pro-Russian President
Viktor Yanukovych from power.
But many in the rebellious regions
also have grown increasingly exasperated with the insurgents, whom they
blame for putting civilians in the crossfire.
In the village of
Semenovka on the outskirts of Slovyansk, shelling badly damaged several
houses. Zinaida Patskan had her roof torn away by an explosion that also
shattered a wall. She said she hid under a kitchen table with her cat,
Timofey, in the shelling.
"Why they are hitting us?" the 80-year-old said, bursting into tears. "We are peaceful
people!"
About
100 Semenovka residents later vented their anger against the central
government, demanding Ukrainian forces end the offensive and withdraw.
Speakers at a rally also urged a boycott of the presidential vote.
In
the Luhansk region, sustained gunfire and mortar fire rocked the town
of Lysychansk. One shell hit a house, which burst into flames. A police
duty officer at the town hospital said one fighter had died and five
were wounded.
In the evening, a convoy of at least 200 Ukrainian
soldiers was seen traveling to Slovyansk from the north. The soldiers
were in two armored vehicles and eight military trucks, one of the
larger concentrations seen in recent weeks.
While the fighting
raged, Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces were leaving the
regions near Ukraine as part of a military pullout ordered by President
Vladimir Putin. It said four trainloads of weapons and 15 Il-76
heavy-lift transport planes had already left the Belgorod, Bryansk and
Rostov regions.
NATO had estimated Russia had 40,000 troops along the border.
Gen.
Philip Breedlove, NATO’s supreme commander in Europe, said in Brussels
that some Russian military movements had been detected but it was too
early to assess their size or importance. He said a very large and
capable Russian force still remained close to Ukraine.
In Kiev, Yatsenyuk described Russia’s announcement as a bluff.
"Even
if the troops are withdrawing, Russian authorities are still assisting
the armed terrorists who were trained in Russia," he said.
Russian
Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich rejected Yatsenyuk’s
claims of Russian interference as unfounded and denounced his call for a
U.N. meeting as "propaganda."
Putin’s pullout order and his
remarks welcoming Ukraine’s election reflected an attempt to ease
tensions with the West over Ukraine and avoid a new round of U.S. and
Europea Union sanctions. He has ignored the plea of some of the rebels
to join Russia.
The U.S. and the EU imposed travel bans and asset
freezes on members of Putin’s inner circle after Russia annexed Crimea
in March. The West warned that crippling sanctions against entire
sectors of the Russian economy could follow if Moscow tries to grab more
land or attempts to derail the election.
Russia wants guarantees
that Ukraine will not join NATO and has advocated for constitutional
reforms that would give broader powers to Ukraine’s regions. That would
maintain Moscow’s clout in Ukraine’s industrial heartland.
The USS
Vella Gulf, a U.S. Navy guided missile cruiser, will move into the
Black Sea Friday as part of an effort by the U.S. to maintain assets in
the region to reassure American allies in the wake of the unrest.
___
Leonard
reported from Horlivka, Ukraine. Dmitry Kozlov in Blahodatne, Ukraine,
Nataliya Vasilyeva in Kiev, Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow, Predrag Milic
in Podgorica, Montenegro, John-Thor Dahlburg in Brussels and Lolita
Baldor in Washington contributed to this report.