SLOVYANSK, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine launched an offensive against separatist forces for control of a
besieged eastern city Friday, while clashes between pro- and anti-government activists in the previously
calm southern port of Odessa led to a fire that police said killed 31 people.
The first serious offensive by the government in Kiev and the dozens of deaths in Odessa sharply
escalated the crisis that has led to the worst tensions between Russia and the West since the Cold war.
The Kremlin said the battle for the separatist-held city of Slovyansk effectively destroyed the Geneva
pact aimed at cooling the unrest in the deeply divided country.
Oleksandr Turchynov, Ukraine’s acting president, said many insurgents were killed or wounded in the
eastern offensive that also underlined the military’s vulnerability. The military action came two days
after Kiev said it had lost control of eastern Ukraine.
Both sides said two Ukrainian helicopters were shot down by the insurgents near Slovyansk, killing two
crew members, while authorities said another seven people also died: three separatist gunmen, two
soldiers and two civilians.
By nightfall, Ukrainian troops and armored personnel carriers blocked all major roads into Slovyansk, and
the central part of the city remained in the hands of pro-Russia gunmen, according to Associated Press
journalists inside. Most shops were closed, and the few that were open were crowded with customers
stocking up on supplies.
Sporadic gunfire was heard in Slovyansk’s downtown late Friday, while Russian news reports said there
were armed clashes in the nearby town of Kramatorsk. There was no immediate independent confirmation of
fighting.
The Ukrainian Security Service said one helicopter was downed with a surface-to-air missile, adding that
the sophisticated weapon undercut Russia’s claims the city of 125,000 people was simply under the
control of armed locals.
“Ukrainian security forces so far are not ready for large-scale military actions; moreover, such actions
could provoke Russia’s invasion,” said Kiev-based political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko.
Russia has massed tens of thousands of troops in areas near Ukraine’s border. Kiev claims Moscow is
preparing to invade and that it is fomenting the unrest in the east, where insurgents have seized
government buildings in about a dozen cities and towns. The Kremlin denies the allegations, but Foreign
Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned Russia would respond to attacks on its citizens or interests in the
east.
Unlike eastern Ukraine, Odessa had been largely tranquil since the February toppling of President Viktor
Yanukovych, who fled to Russia. But clashes erupted Friday between pro-Russians and government
supporters in the key port on the Black Sea coast, located 550 kilometers (330 miles) from the turmoil
in the east.
Police said the deadly fire broke out in a trade union building, but did not give details on how it
started. Earlier, police said at least three people had died in a clash between the two sides in the
city of 1 million.
According to Ukrainian news reports, the pro-Kiev demonstrators broke up an encampment of Moscow
supporters outside the trade union building. The latter took refuge in the building, which then caught
fire.
Odessa police spokesman Volodymyr Shasbliyenko told AP the fire apparently was caused by Molotov
cocktails. He had no further details or identities of the victims.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said the fatal fire was “yet another manifestation of the criminal
irresponsibility of the Kiev authorities who indulge insolent radical nationalists … which are
engaging in a campaign of physical terror” against those in Ukraine who want more autonomy for the
pro-Moscow regions.
A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin said the Ukrainian offensive “effectively destroyed the
last hope for the implementation of the Geneva agreement” of two weeks ago that aimed to defuse the
crisis. But Dmitry Peskov also said Russia “continues to undertake consistent efforts on de-escalation.”

In Washington, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Barack Obama warned that Russia could be hit
by new sanctions from the U.S. and the European Union if it continues disruptive actions in Ukraine.
Previous sanctions are showing signs of significant effect on the Russian economy.
The fighting in Slovyansk, a city about 160 kilometers (100 miles) from the Russian border, broke out
around dawn. Stella Khorosheva, a spokeswoman for the insurgents, said three fighters and two civilians
were killed in the clashes.
The Russian state television channel Rossiya-24 showed one man who they said was a wounded helicopter
pilot surrounded by pro-Russia forces.
Several foreign news crews, meanwhile, were detained for several hours Friday by nervous pro-Russia
militia before being released. CBS reported that one journalist was beaten.
Slovyansk is strategically key because Ukraine has a huge stockpile of automatic rifles and other light
weapons near the city, according to a commentary Friday for Britain’s Royal United Services Institute
defense think-tank.
“Today, Kiev has upped the ante in the standoff and will test Russian resolve to prevent the Ukrainian
government from regaining control of the city and its light weapons stockpile,” the think-tank authors
wrote.
Turchynov said some government troops and police in eastern Ukraine were “either helping or cooperating
with terrorist organizations.” He said Ukrainian forces were working to prevent the unrest from
spreading other areas.
At Russia’s request, the U.N. Security Council met in an emergency session Friday on Ukraine.
Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin demanded a “swift halt of all violence,” but Western powers scoffed at
his country’s indignation.
“Russia … has released bands of thugs on Ukraine … and is suddenly discovering this mixture might
escape its control,” French ambassador Gerard Araud said.
Ukraine, a nation of 46 million, is torn between those in the west who favor closer ties with Europe and
many Russian-speakers in the east who look toward Moscow. Separatists who have seized government
buildings in at least 10 eastern cities amid fears that Moscow is seeking a pretext to invade or annex
more territory like it did with Ukraine’s Black Sea peninsula of Crimea in March.
The peace deal in Geneva last month aimed to get those who had seized government buildings in Ukraine to
leave and calm down the tensions that have prompted the United States and the European Union to slap
Russia with rounds of sanctions.
The Russian Foreign Ministry accused Ukraine’s government of using “terrorists” from ultranationalist
organizations for Friday’s military operation. It also claimed that Kiev deployed tanks and helicopters
that were “conducting missile strikes on protesters,” something that neither side in Ukraine reported.

An AP crew also saw no evidence of missile strikes in Slovyansk.
Russia also cited insurgents in Ukraine as saying that some of the government attackers spoke English —
an insinuation that the Ukrainian military was getting help from the West.
TV crews from Sky News and CBS were detained Friday on the outskirts of Slovyansk. Sky News said in a
statement its crew was detained for several hours but is now “safe and well.”
CBS correspondent Clarissa Ward told “CBS This Morning” that she and her crew were stopped by pro-Russia
insurgents at a checkpoint just outside Slovyansk, then taken to a nearby town where they were
blindfolded tightly with masking tape. They were released several hours later, unharmed except for one
man who was beaten.
Kiev’s interim government came to power after Yanukovych fled, drummed out by months of anti-government
protests. Ukraine plans to hold a presidential election on May 25.
SLOVYANSK, Ukraine — Ukraine launched an offensive against separatist forces for control of a besieged
eastern city Friday, while clashes between pro- and anti-government activists in the previously calm
southern port of Odessa led to a fire that police said killed 31 people.
The first serious offensive by the government in Kiev and the dozens of deaths in Odessa sharply
escalated the crisis that has led to the worst tensions between Russia and the West since the Cold war.
The Kremlin said the battle for the separatist-held city of Slovyansk effectively destroyed the Geneva
pact aimed at cooling the unrest in the deeply divided country.
Oleksandr Turchynov, Ukraine’s acting president, said many insurgents were killed or wounded in the
eastern offensive that also underlined the military’s vulnerability. The military action came two days
after Kiev said it had lost control of eastern Ukraine.
Both sides said two Ukrainian helicopters were shot down by the insurgents near Slovyansk, killing two
crew members, while authorities said another seven people also died: three separatist gunmen, two
soldiers and two civilians.
By nightfall, Ukrainian troops and armored personnel carriers blocked all major roads into Slovyansk, and
the central part of the city remained in the hands of pro-Russia gunmen, according to Associated Press
journalists inside. Most shops were closed, and the few that were open were crowded with customers
stocking up on supplies.
Sporadic gunfire was heard in Slovyansk’s downtown late Friday, while Russian news reports said there
were armed clashes in the nearby town of Kramatorsk. There was no immediate independent confirmation of
fighting.
The Ukrainian Security Service said one helicopter was downed with a surface-to-air missile, adding that
the sophisticated weapon undercut Russia’s claims the city of 125,000 people was simply under the
control of armed locals.
“Ukrainian security forces so far are not ready for large-scale military actions; moreover, such actions
could provoke Russia’s invasion,” said Kiev-based political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko.
Russia has massed tens of thousands of troops in areas near Ukraine’s border. Kiev claims Moscow is
preparing to invade and that it is fomenting the unrest in the east, where insurgents have seized
government buildings in about a dozen cities and towns. The Kremlin denies the allegations, but Foreign
Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned Russia would respond to attacks on its citizens or interests in the
east.
Unlike eastern Ukraine, Odessa had been largely tranquil since the February toppling of President Viktor
Yanukovych, who fled to Russia. But clashes erupted Friday between pro-Russians and government
supporters in the key port on the Black Sea coast, located 550 kilometers (330 miles) from the turmoil
in the east.
Police said the deadly fire broke out in a trade union building, but did not give details on how it
started. Earlier, police said at least three people had died in a clash between the two sides in the
city of 1 million.
According to Ukrainian news reports, the pro-Kiev demonstrators broke up an encampment of Moscow
supporters outside the trade union building. The latter took refuge in the building, which then caught
fire.
Odessa police spokesman Volodymyr Shasbliyenko told AP the fire apparently was caused by Molotov
cocktails. He had no further details or identities of the victims.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said the fatal fire was “yet another manifestation of the criminal
irresponsibility of the Kiev authorities who indulge insolent radical nationalists … which are
engaging in a campaign of physical terror” against those in Ukraine who want more autonomy for the
pro-Moscow regions.
A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin said the Ukrainian offensive “effectively destroyed the
last hope for the implementation of the Geneva agreement” of two weeks ago that aimed to defuse the
crisis. But Dmitry Peskov also said Russia “continues to undertake consistent efforts on de-escalation.”

In Washington, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Barack Obama warned that Russia could be hit
by new sanctions from the U.S. and the European Union if it continues disruptive actions in Ukraine.
Previous sanctions are showing signs of significant effect on the Russian economy.
The fighting in Slovyansk, a city about 160 kilometers (100 miles) from the Russian border, broke out
around dawn. Stella Khorosheva, a spokeswoman for the insurgents, said three fighters and two civilians
were killed in the clashes.
The Russian state television channel Rossiya-24 showed one man who they said was a wounded helicopter
pilot surrounded by pro-Russia forces.
Several foreign news crews, meanwhile, were detained for several hours Friday by nervous pro-Russia
militia before being released. CBS reported that one journalist was beaten.
Slovyansk is strategically key because Ukraine has a huge stockpile of automatic rifles and other light
weapons near the city, according to a commentary Friday for Britain’s Royal United Services Institute
defense think-tank.
“Today, Kiev has upped the ante in the standoff and will test Russian resolve to prevent the Ukrainian
government from regaining control of the city and its light weapons stockpile,” the think-tank authors
wrote.
Turchynov said some government troops and police in eastern Ukraine were “either helping or cooperating
with terrorist organizations.” He said Ukrainian forces were working to prevent the unrest from
spreading other areas.
At Russia’s request, the U.N. Security Council met in an emergency session Friday on Ukraine.
Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin demanded a “swift halt of all violence,” but Western powers scoffed at
his country’s indignation.
“Russia … has released bands of thugs on Ukraine … and is suddenly discovering this mixture might
escape its control,” French ambassador Gerard Araud said.
Ukraine, a nation of 46 million, is torn between those in the west who favor closer ties with Europe and
many Russian-speakers in the east who look toward Moscow. Separatists who have seized government
buildings in at least 10 eastern cities amid fears that Moscow is seeking a pretext to invade or annex
more territory like it did with Ukraine’s Black Sea peninsula of Crimea in March.
The peace deal in Geneva last month aimed to get those who had seized government buildings in Ukraine to
leave and calm down the tensions that have prompted the United States and the European Union to slap
Russia with rounds of sanctions.
The Russian Foreign Ministry accused Ukraine’s government of using “terrorists” from ultranationalist
organizations for Friday’s military operation. It also claimed that Kiev deployed tanks and helicopters
that were “conducting missile strikes on protesters,” something that neither side in Ukraine reported.

An AP crew also saw no evidence of missile strikes in Slovyansk.
Russia also cited insurgents in Ukraine as saying that some of the government attackers spoke English —
an insinuation that the Ukrainian military was getting help from the West.
TV crews from Sky News and CBS were detained Friday on the outskirts of Slovyansk. Sky News said in a
statement its crew was detained for several hours but is now “safe and well.”
CBS correspondent Clarissa Ward told “CBS This Morning” that she and her crew were stopped by pro-Russia
insurgents at a checkpoint just outside Slovyansk, then taken to a nearby town where they were
blindfolded tightly with masking tape. They were released several hours later, unharmed except for one
man who was beaten.
Kiev’s interim government came to power after Yanukovych fled, drummed out by months of anti-government
protests. Ukraine plans to hold a presidential election on May 25.