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The smoke and flames from the debris had just cleared and an investigation was about to begin on how militant separatists had managed to destroy a helicopter-gunship inside the supposedly secure Kramatorsk airport.
Colonel Yulia was trying to piece together details of the attack, while anxiously waiting for news about the injured pilot. “What,” she wondered, “would the rest of the day bring?” What it brought was the seizure of a team of observers from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) by gunmen in neighbouring Slovyansk; the claim that the city’s mayor had been involved in the torture and murder of a local politician; another shooting at a checkpoint; the takeover of another government building. The narrative of the steady decline of the east of the country into violent strife.
Colonel Yulia, whose surname is withheld for security reasons, is part of the military force sent by the Kiev administration to retake towns and cities across the region which had passed under the control of militants, the Peoples’ Republic of Donetsk. As a senior officer in the SBU, the intelligence service, she has a key role in the mission which will decide the future of Ukraine.
Her immediate feeling on the day was one of relief: “All three members of crew got out, the pilot was injured in the shoulder but he managed to turn the helicopter so missiles would not hit the buildings if they were accidentally fired. We have civilians living here – families with children. And I am glad the explosion which followed did not lead to injuries or deaths.”
Clashes in eastern UkraineShow all 126 1 /126Clashes in eastern Ukraine Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Donetsk Ukraine 'Azov' batallion soldiers capture pro-Russian activists after taking control over city of Mariupol in Donetsk
EPA
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Kiev Pro-Ukrainian supporters stand in front of the Russian embassy during a protest in Kiev
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Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Kiev Activists of Maidan self-defense and Right Sector ultra-nationalist organization attend a commemoration ceremony devoted for Ukrainian soldiers killed when a military cargo plane was shot down
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Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Slavyansk An armed Ukrainian soldier looks around while guarding at a checkpoint not far of Slavyansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Kramatorsk An Orthodox priest holds a service during a funeral ceremony in front of the local administration building in Kramatorsk for Viktor Gagulin, a Pro-Russian supporter, who was killed during an anti terrorist operation, Kramatorsk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Donetsk Awaiting of pro-Russian separatists is ongoing at the government building seized by Russian supporters in Donetsk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Odessa A woman bearing flowers during the rally to mourn for victims of clashes in Odessa, outside Moscow's Kremlin
AP
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Odessa Pro-Russian activists mourn during the funeral of Vyacheslav Markin, the deputy of the city regional council and leader of the pro-Russian opposition, who perished during a clash between pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian activists
AFP
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Donetsk Pro-Russian militants escort a blindfolded man outside the regional state building they seized
AFP
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Donetsk Pro-Russian Cossacks eat a dinner outside the regional administration building in Donetsk
AP
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Slavyansk Ukrainian soldiers stand guard at a Ukrainian checkpoint near the eastern town of Slavyansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Slavyansk At least three people were killed and several were injured in clashes between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists in the eastern city of Slavyansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Slavyansk A Ukrainian military helicopter lands near a Ukrainian checkpoint near the town of Slavyansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Slavyansk A Ukrainian military helicopter lands at a checkpoint which troops seized in the early morning in the village of Andreevka, 7 kms from the centre of the southern Ukrainian city of Slavyansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Slavyansk A Ukrainian soldier looks on at a Ukrainian checkpoint near the eastern town of Slavyansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Slavyansk Soldiers guard a checkpoint 25 kilometers from the city of Slavyansk. Militants in Slavyansk are keeping dozens of hostages, including seven European military observers, who were detained in the city while on a verification mission under the Organisation of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Slavyansk A masked Ukrainian soldier takes position at a checkpoint which troops seized in the early morning in the village of Andreevka, 7 kms from the centre of the southern Ukrainian city of Slavyansk. Ukraine's military lost two helicopters and two servicemen in a deadly offensive launched just before dawn against pro-Russian rebels holding the flashpoint town of Slavyansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Donetsk Pro-Russian protesters try to destroy a Ukraine national flag outside the regional prosecutor's office in Donetsk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Donetsk Pro-Russian separatists seize the Prosecution Office in Donetsk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Slavyansk Ukrainian soldiers stand near a tank at a checkpoint near the south eastern Ukrainain city of Slavyansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Slavyansk Ukrainian soldiers guard a roadblock along the highway near Slavyansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Lugansk Armed pro-Russian militia attack the regional police building of Lugansk. Fresh violence erupted in eastern Ukraine after Moscow hit back at "Iron Curtain"-style Western sanctions
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Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Lugansk A resident walks through a barricaded area around the security services building. The pro-Russian activists have taken control of the state administration building and the police station
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Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Lugansk A pro-Russian activist stands guard outside the security services building. The area around the building has become a barricaded camp occupied by the pro-Russians
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Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Slavyansk An armed pro-Russian activist stands guard at a checkpoint. Fresh violence has erupted in eastern Ukraine as thousands of pro-Russian protesters stormed key buildings
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Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Kiev Members of the protest group 'Self Defense of Maidan' stand on a barricade as they prepare to stop ultra-nationalist activists from marching through Independence Square in Kiev
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Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Kiev Pro-Ukrainian activists draw a giant map of Ukraine in front of the Parliament building, marking territories which could be lost as a result of the armed separatists' activity
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Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Donetsk A pro-Russian activist gets medical attention after a clash with pro-government activists during a rally and march Donetsk. Several people were injured when the pro-Russian activists attacked a pro-government march
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Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Donetsk Pro-Russian activists clash with pro-government supporters during a rally and march in Donetsk. Several people were injured when the pro-Russian activists attacked a pro-government march
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Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Donetsk A pro-Russian protester walks in front of riot police during a pro-Ukraine rally in the eastern city of Donetsk. Several people were wounded when what appeared to be stun grenades exploded during a rally in support of Ukrainian unity in the eastern, separatist-held city
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Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Donetsk Pro-Ukrainian supporters attending a rally in Donetsk. Around 1,000 people took part in a march for supporting of a Single Ukraine and were attacked by pro-Russian protesters
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Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Kostyantynivka A pro-Russian armed man poses for a photograph with a child as he stands guard outside a regional administration building seized in the night by pro-Russian separatists
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Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Kostyantynivka A pro-Russian armed man holds his weapon in front of the seized town administration building in Kostyantynivka Armed pro-Russian separatists who took control of the police headquarters in the east Ukrainian town of Kostyantynivka have also seized the town administration building
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Kostyantynivka A pro-Russia armed man aims his rifle in front of the seized city council building in Kostyantynivka
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Slaviansk Pro-Russian Ukrainian presidential candidate Oleg Tsarev (2-L) of the 'Party of Regions' party is accompanied by security personnel as he arrives to speak to journalists during a press briefing in Slaviansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Slaviansk A man reacts near a coffin containing the body of man killed in a gunfight, during a funeral ceremony in Slaviansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Slovyansk Foreign military observers are escorted by pro-Russian militants to attend a press conference in city hall, of Slovyansk, eastern Ukraine
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Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Slovyansk An armed pro-Russian protestor gestures as he stands guard on a checkpoint near Krasnyi Liman, in the Donetsk area
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Slovyansk A Ukrainian soldier smokes his cigarette in front of an armoured personnel carrier at a checkpoint in the village of Malinivka, east of Slaviansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Lugansk Pro-Russian activists walk past a anti-US and EU banner near the occupied Security Service building in Lugansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Slovyansk A Ukrainian security force officer is deployed at a checkpoint set on fire and left by pro-Russian separatists near Slaviansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Slovyansk Ukrainian security force officers are deployed at a checkpoint set on fire and left by pro-Russian separatists near Slaviansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Slovyansk A pro-Russian masked gunman seen during his duty on a street in the center of Slovyansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Slovyansk A pro-Russian masked gunman patrols a street in the center of Slovyansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Donetsk Pro-Russian protesters attend their rally near of a barricade in front of the occupied regional administration building in Donetsk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Donetsk An woman holds a Russian flag as she sits next to an elderly women inside a compound created by barricades which surround the Donetsk Regional Administration Building in Donetsk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Slovyansk Pro Russia militia carry a casket bearing Pavel Pavelko (42) one of three pro Russia militiamen killed in a shooting by unknown gunmen at a checkpoint, during his funeral procession in Alexandrovska village near Slovyansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Lugansk Supporters of the Communist Party of Ukraine meet near the monument of former Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin in Lugansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Slaviansk A masked man in military fatigues brings a blindfolded Irma Krat, arrested and held by pro-Russian protestors before her meeting with journalists near of occupied police station in Slaviansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Slaviansk Pro-Russian activists are demanding broader autonomy from Kiev and closer ties to Russia and continue to occupy government, police and other administrative buildings in eastern Ukrainian cities, in defiance of an ultimatum by the Ukrainian government to lay down their weapons
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Slaviansk Russia, the United States, the European Union and Ukraine had agreed on steps to de-escalate the crisis in Ukraine during talks in Geneva, Switzerland
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Luhansk Valeriy Bolotov (R) new people's governor of Luhansk, speaks to the media after he was pronounced the "people's governor" inside the Ukrainian regional office of the Security Service in Luhansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Lugansk An orthodox priest sprinkles a holy water over a group of people during a rally in front of the Security Service building occupied by pro-Russian activists in Lugansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Slaviansk Bodies of men killed in a gunfight are seen in coffins during a funeral ceremony in Slaviansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Slaviansk An activist shows ammunition near burned out vehicles in front of a pro-Russian blockade near Slaviansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Lugansk A masked man guards the entrance of the Security Service building occupied by pro-Russian activists during a rally in Lugansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Donetsk Soviet army veteran Yuri stands outside a regional government building in Donetsk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Lugansk Defiant Pro-Russian supporters react during a rally in front of the Security Service building occupied by pro-Russian activists in Lugansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Lugansk A tearful pro-Russian supportes during the singing of the Russian national hymn during a rally in front of the Security Service building occupied by pro-Russian activists in Lugansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Donetsk A Soviet flag is seen on a barricade outside a regional government building in Donetsk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Slaviansk Pro-Russian armed men walk past activists hanging up a "Donetsk Republic" flag outside the mayor's office in Slaviansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Lugansk A man in military fatigues hugs a woman and a child during a rally in front of the Security Service building occupied by pro-Russian activists in Lugansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Slovyansk Armed Pro-Russian man poses for a photo with local children next to barricades in front of city hall in Slovyansk
AFP
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Slavyansk The seperatist leader of the eastern Ukrainian city of Slavyansk, Vyacheslav Ponomaryov, holds up the pictures of two pro-Russia militants killed the day before in a gunbattle with unidentified attackers, as he holds a press conference in Slavyansk
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Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Donetsk Ukrainian Christian worshipers carry crosses as they march around the regional government building in Donetsk
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Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Luhansk People rest under a tent next to barricades at the Ukrainian regional office of the Security Service in Luhansk
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Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Slavyansk A masked man holds a gun as as other armed people stand near tanks in Slaviansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Slavyansk An Orthodox icon is displayed on barricades in front of a city parliament in Slovyansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Slavyansk Men wearing military fatigues ride on an armoured personnel carrier (APC) in the eastern Ukrainian city of Slavyansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Slavyansk Armed men wearing military fatigues gather by Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC) as they stand guard outside the regional state building seized by pro-Russian separatists in the eastern Ukrainian city of Slavyansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Slavyansk Masked pro-Russian gunmen attack a photojournalist near combat vehicles flying a Russian flag, in downtown of Slovyansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Slavyansk Men wearing military fatigues sit by a Russian flag and a white flag reading "People's volunteer corps of Donetsk" as they ride on an armoured personnel carrier (APC) in the eastern Ukrainian city of Slavyansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Kramatorsk Ukrainian soldiers clash with pro-Russia protesters in a field near Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Kramatorsk Ukrainian General Genady Krutov (C) talks to journalists in front of an Ukrainian airbase in Kramatorsk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Luhansk A woman wearing a national flower crown looks back as she attends a pro-Ukrainian rally in Luhansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Kharkiv Ukrainian soldiers stand guard near a military helicopter, near the Izyum city in Kharkiv area
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Horlivka (Gorlovka), near Donetsk Pro-Russia activists throw stones as they storm the regional police building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Horlivka (Gorlovka), near Donetsk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Horlivka (Gorlovka), near Donetsk Pro-Russian men storm a police station in the eastern Ukrainian town of Horlivka
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Horlivka (Gorlovka), near Donetsk Masked pro-Russian men attack British photojournalist Frederick Paxton during the mass storming of a police station in the eastern Ukrainian town of Horlivka
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Horlivka (Gorlovka), near Donetsk Ukrainian police try to stop pro-Russia activists from storming the regional police building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Horlivka (Gorlovka), near Donetsk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Slovyansk A pro-Russian fighter guards a barricade bearing the Russian flag on the road leading to the eastern Ukrainian city of Slavyansk
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Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Slovyansk Armed pro-Russia protesters prepare for the battle with Ukrainian police special team on the outskirts the eastern Ukrainian city of Slavyansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Lugansk Pro-Russian activists escort a man (unseen) who they say is a provocateur outside the secret service building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Lugansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Lugansk Pro-Russia supporters surround a man who they say is a provocateur (C) outside the secret service building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Lugansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Lugansk Armed pro-Russian supporters carry an Eastern Orthodox icon of Mary Magdalene outside the secret service building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Lugansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Slovyansk Pro-Russian activists occupy the police station carrying riot shields as people watch on, in the eastern Ukraine town of Slovyansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Kramatorsk, near Slovyansk The interior minister overnight reported an attack on a police in the city of Kramatorsk, close to the city of Slovyansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Slovyansk A pro-Russian gunman stands guard at a seized police station in the eastern Ukraine town of Slovyansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Slovyansk A pro-Russian gunman carries a mattress in a seized police station in the eastern Ukraine town of Slovyansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Lugansk A pro-Russian supporter flashes the 'V'-sign during a rally in front of the security service building occupied by Pro-Russian activists in Lugansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Kharkiv Pro-Russian supporters clash with supporters of Single Ukraine in downtown Kharkiv
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Luhansk An effigy depicting Ukrainian politician and presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko is hanged on a advertisement board in front of the offices of the SBU state security service in Luhansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Luhansk Pro-Russian protesters set a barbed wire on a barricade outside the SBU state security service in Luhansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Luhansk A masked pro-Russian activist stands in front of barricades at the Ukrainian regional office of the Security Service in Luhansk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Luhansk Pro-Russian separatists reinforced barricades around the state security building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Luhansk and called on President Vladimir Putin for help after the government warned it could use force to restore order
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Donetsk A Pro-Russian activist wears a hand-made mask behind a barricade in front of the regional administration building in Donetsk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Kharkiv Pro-Russian protesters hold placards reading 'Freedom for detained heroes!' during a rally near the district court in Kharkiv
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Kharkiv Policemen leave their position from the regional administration building in eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Kharkiv Pro-Russian protesters attend a rally near the district court in Kharkiv. Meanwhile, Russia rejected accusations that it was massing troops for an invasion of Ukraine and accused the West of making 'baseless' claims and waging an anti-Russian campaign
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Kharkiv A view of the interior of the Kharkiv regional state administration chancery after being destroyed by pro-Russian protesters. Ukrainian policemen were injured as a result of an operation to free the administration building from pro-Russian separatists. Ukraine's acting president said on April 8 he would treat Russian separatists who have seized buildings in the east of the country as "terrorists" who will be prosecuted with the full force of the law
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Kharkiv Pro-Russian protesters throw stones at an Interior Ministry bus near the regional administration building in Kharkiv. Ukrainian police cleared pro-Moscow protesters from a regional administration building in a lightning night-time operation, but others held out in two more eastern cities in what Kiev says is a Russian-led plan to dismember the country. Shots were fired, a grenade thrown and 70 people detained as officers ended the occupation in the city of Kharkiv during an 18 minute "anti-terrorism" action
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Kharkiv Armed men in masks, representing Ukrainian special forces, stand guard outside the regional administration building in Kharkiv
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Kharkiv Pro-Russian protesters burn tires near of a regional administration building after police cleared it in Kharkiv. Protesters are demanding a referendum on the status of the Kharkiv region, similar to the recently held referendum in Crimea
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Kharkiv Pro-Russian activists hold red flags with the communist hammer and sickle and the soviet "USSR" initals during a rally at the regional administration building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Kharkiv Pro-Russian protesters (L) clash with activists (R) supporting the territorial integrity of Ukraine as Interior Ministry members (C) attempt to break them apart during rallies in the eastern city of Kharkiv
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Kharkiv Pro-Russian protesters and police officers surround a group of around fifteen ultra-nationalist Right Sector group members (C) during a rally in Kharkiv. Several hundred pro-Russian protesters surrounded the group of ultra-nationalists and forced them to march down a steep hill on their knees in what appeared to be a humiliation ritual that drew no police response during the rally in eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Donetsk A pro-Russian protester holds a placard bearing a crossed out "Nato" during a rally in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Donetsk Pro-Russian protesters wave Russian flags during their rally in downtown Donetsk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Donetsk Pro-Russian activists guard a barricade set at the Ukrainian regional Security Service building on the eastern city of Donetsk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Donetsk Ukraine's embattled prime minister accused Russia of trying to "dismember" his country by plotting seizures of government buildings in eastern regions that are seeking to break away from Kiev
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Donetsk Pro-Russian activists outside the Ukrainian regional Security Service building on the eastern city of Donetsk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Donetsk Protesters are calling for former President Yanukovych to return to Ukraine and to hold a referendum on the status of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, similar to the recently held referendum in Crimea
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Donetsk Pro-Russian protesters stand next to a barricade in front of the occupied regional administration building in Donetsk. According to reports, pro-Russian demonstrators stormed the administration building in Donetsk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Donetsk Protesters set up a barricade inside an occupied regional administration building in Donetsk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Donetsk A pro-Russia protester sets on fire an effigy depicting Stepan Bandera, one of the founders of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, during a rally in Donetsk
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Donetsk Pro-Russian masked activist waves a Russian national flag in front of the regional administration building in Donetsk, where a large group of people surged into the provincial government building and smashed windows. A gathering of several hundred, many of them waving Russian flags, then listened to speeches delivered from a balcony emblazoned with a banner reading a "Donetsk Republic"
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Donetsk Pro-Russian activists hold a huge Russian national flag in front of the regional administration building in Donetsk, Ukraine
AP
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Donetsk Pro-Russian activists hold a rally in front of Ukraine's regional security service of Ukraine in Lugansk
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Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Donetsk Pro-Russian supporters clash with members of the riot police as they storm the regional administration building
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Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Donetsk Pro-Russian activists evacuate a wounded following clashes with anti-riot forces after storming the Regional Security Service of Ukraine
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Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Donetsk Pro-Russian protesters clash with police as they try to occupy a regional administration building in Donetsk, Ukraine
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Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Donetsk Around 100 pro-Russian protesters stormed the regional government building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk
Reuters
Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Donetsk People clash with police at the regional administration building in Donetsk, Ukraine
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Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Donetsk Pro-Russian protesters attend a rally in Odessa, Ukraine
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Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Donetsk A pro-Russian protester waves a Russian flag behind policemen near the regional government building in Donetsk
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Clashes in eastern Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Donetsk Pro-Russian supporters clash with members of the riot police as they storm the regional administration building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk
Getty Images
But Colonel Yulia, who has been in the army for more than 20 years, is well aware of the difficulties of the task ahead. “We have a powerful neighbour, which has huge resources and wants to destabilise our country, the Russians are working to a plan. The Russians are here, we also know of some of the places where they are based; that is the reality”, she told The Independent . “At the same time, we are not sure about the loyalty of the local police. Some of them are for us, others are against us, and some are just waiting to see what happens. This, of course, causes a lot of problems.
One aspect of this has been injecting into the public the fear of the Right Sector, an ultra-nationalist group which had hitherto been known for the violence of its language rather than its actions. The separatists had held these “fascists” and “agents of the illegal Kiev junta” being responsible for a string of killings.
Colonel Yulia was initially surprised by the effect. “When we first came here, local people were actually asking us whether we were members of the Right Sector,” she said. “As a member of the armed forces, we are not allowed to be members of political organisations. I have my own views about extremists as a private citizen.
“What the Right Sector says actually helps Moscow, and the separatists here can use that to make people afraid. We have no evidence of links between extremist organisations and the Russians but, interestingly, you can see examples of these types of operations, using such groups, in old counter-terrorist manuals of the KGB in the USSR.”
In pictures: Chernobyl's forgotten victimsShow all 25 1 /25In pictures: Chernobyl's forgotten victims In pictures: Chernobyl's forgotten victims Chernobyl's forgotten victims An elderly lady wanders into the Exclusion Zone at an informal crossing point between officially contaminated and officially ‘clean’ space. Radiation is not stopped by the fence, and nor are people.
Alexey Furman
In pictures: Chernobyl's forgotten victims Chernobyl's forgotten victims A young girl plays on her grandparent’s small farm near the edge of the nuclear Exclusion Zone. Growing your own food is an important survival strategy for people who live near Chernobyl, despite the risk of contamination.
Thom Davies
In pictures: Chernobyl's forgotten victims Chernobyl's forgotten victims In a village near the Exclusion Zone, a woman holds a photograph of her husband who worked as a liquidator after the 1986 Chernobyl accident. He died soon after the disaster, and she attributes this to exposure to harmful levels of radiation. With no support from the State, she says that the government have “cheated us all the time”.
Thom Davies
In pictures: Chernobyl's forgotten victims Chernobyl's forgotten victims An elderly widow holds a photograph of her husband who worked as a liquidator after Chernobyl and died from exposure to harmful radiation.
Alexey Furman
In pictures: Chernobyl's forgotten victims Chernobyl's forgotten victims An elderly woman stands in her house in a village that borders the Exclusion Zone in north-central Ukraine. A photograph of deposed former President Victor Yanukovich and opposition politician Klitschko are stuck to the wall.
Alexey Furman
In pictures: Chernobyl's forgotten victims Chernobyl's forgotten victims A Soviet War memorial near the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. This landscape has witnessed a lot of suffering with heavy fighting during WW2, as well as acts of atrocity against the Jewish population. The invisible danger of radiation is a less tangible threat, with one war veteran comparing the two traumatic experiences: “At least when the Nazis were in my village you could see them”.
Alexey Furman
In pictures: Chernobyl's forgotten victims Chernobyl's forgotten victims A man holds the blue and yellow flag of Ukraine at a memorial to the Chernobyl catastrophe in downtown Kiev. This weekend marks the 28th anniversary of the world’s worst nuclear accident. As my friend Arthur Bondar said yesterday “Ukrainians and Russians once saved the world from radiation together. Lets save the world now from a new war and commemorate all the victims of Chernobyl”
Alexey Furman
In pictures: Chernobyl's forgotten victims Chernobyl's forgotten victims A man walks past a memorial in Chernobyl
Thom Davies
In pictures: Chernobyl's forgotten victims Chernobyl's forgotten victims A man and his dog stare through the barbed wire fence into the forbidden space of the Exclusion Zone. Many people subsidize their income by illegally entering the Zone to collect scrap metal, which they can then sell. Local border police patrol the fence and occasionally arrest trespassers or demand the payment of bribes.
Thom Davies
In pictures: Chernobyl's forgotten victims Chernobyl's forgotten victims It is common for people to wander through the forbidden forest of the Exclusion Zone to gather wild food such as berries and mushrooms, or to hunt for wild game. Food is both eaten their families and sold informally. Untouched by human activity – apart from invisible radiation - the Exclusion Zone has become a haven for wildlife.
Thom Davies
In pictures: Chernobyl's forgotten victims Chernobyl's forgotten victims The infamous damaged nuclear reactor at Chernobyl. In 1986 a combination of human error and bad reactor design caused a nuclear meltdown that would impact so many people’s lives. A new gigantic sarcophagus is currently being constructed to cover the old reactor and stop further radiation leaks.
Thom Davies
In pictures: Chernobyl's forgotten victims Chernobyl's forgotten victims Aleksander worked for years as a liquidator and driver inside the nuclear Exclusion Zone. He shared many stories about life on the edge of the Zone, and how he would never leave the landscape he grew up in. He once told me “the USSR is something that is now invisible, it is just a concept, where as Chernobyl is everything that you can touch, that you can see, that you can feel”. Aleksander died last year.
Thom Davies
In pictures: Chernobyl's forgotten victims Chernobyl's forgotten victims A man in Stari Sakoli village stands in his field. In the background the Exclusion Zone can be seen beyond the trees.
Alexey Furman
In pictures: Chernobyl's forgotten victims Chernobyl's forgotten victims Alcohol for sale in a shop near the Exclusion Zone. Alcoholism is a big problem in this region, as it is elsewhere in Ukraine. With one in four people in Ukraine struggling below the poverty line and an uncertain future - many men turn to drink. Some here believe it protects them from radiation.
Alexey Furman
In pictures: Chernobyl's forgotten victims Chernobyl's forgotten victims A woman in Krasilivka village cuts grass using a traditional scythe, near the Chernobyl Zone.
Alexey Furman
In pictures: Chernobyl's forgotten victims Chernobyl's forgotten victims An elderly lady who lives near Chernobyl cries while remembering events that followed the disaster. Many people have personal stories of loss and tragedy relating to Chernobyl.
Alexey Furman
In pictures: Chernobyl's forgotten victims Chernobyl's forgotten victims Two mothers and their children wait at a bus stop just west of the Exclusion Zone. There are very few jobs or investment in the region, and little compensation for having to live on contaminated land. With nearly one in four people in Ukraine below the poverty line, and the IMF demanding benefit cuts, life for people near Chernobyl is getting harder.
Thom Davies
In pictures: Chernobyl's forgotten victims Chernobyl's forgotten victims A babushka stands on her small plot of land in a village near Chernobyl. Immediately after the accident the authorities advised people not to eat a variety of homegrown produce, but the Ukrainian State only gives a tiny amount of compensation each month ‘to buy clean food’. Despite the threat of pollution, people here remain very attached to their land.
Alexey Furman
In pictures: Chernobyl's forgotten victims Chernobyl's forgotten victims Kids kill time in Orane village, five kilometers from the Exclusion Zone. There are few jobs or prospects for young people in this marginalized region.
Alexey Furman
In pictures: Chernobyl's forgotten victims Chernobyl's forgotten victims Chernobyl campaigner Sergey Petrovych Krasilnikov holds a photograph of the damaged nuclear reactor in his flat in Kiev. He attributes his disability to radiation from the accident, having been in a wheelchair since the early 1990s. Many people feel abandoned by the state, and do not get paid the compensation that they are owed by Ukrainian law.
Alexey Furman
In pictures: Chernobyl's forgotten victims Chernobyl's forgotten victims Children in a school in Orane village, 5km from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. Each year some children are taken abroad for a month by charities for ‘Chernobyl Children’ based in Spain. As a result, most kids in Orane speak some Spanish.
Alexey Furman
In pictures: Chernobyl's forgotten victims Chernobyl's forgotten victims Five residents of a village near the Exclusion Zone in Ukraine watch the world go by. All of them attribute Chernobyl radiation to a wide range of illnesses from cancer to diabetes, as well as personal stories of loss and bereavement. The number of fatalities from the nuclear disaster is highly debated.
Alexey Furman
In pictures: Chernobyl's forgotten victims Chernobyl's forgotten victims A liquidator holds her medal awarded to her after she helped clean up the highly polluted landscape around Chernobyl after the accident. Despite having the correct documents, many liquidators still fail to receive the compensation that is owed to them.
Thom Davies
In pictures: Chernobyl's forgotten victims Chernobyl's forgotten victims A boy who lives in a village that borders the Exclusion Zone plays in a river that runs through the contaminated territory of Chernobyl.
Thom Davies
In pictures: Chernobyl's forgotten victims Chernobyl's forgotten victims A baby is christened in the only functioning Church in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. After the ceremony the priest said “There is no radiation here”
Alexey Furman
The Ukrainian forces are based at Kramatorsk airport, which was taken with the use of attack helicopters. There were early setbacks: an attempt by the commander of the force, General Vasily Krutov, to do a walkabout among a crowd gathered outside ended with him being jostled, punched, having his hat knocked off and scrambling to get back behind the wire. The following day seven armoured personnel carriers were lost to the militants, who paraded them, bedecked with Russian flags, through Kramatorsk and Slovyansk,
The reverses undoubtedly affected the morale and logistics of the operation, with the troops stuck inside the airport and the militants increasingly owning the ground, with checkpoints set up on main roads. But now the troops have begun to set up roadblocks on routes into Slovyansk, which had become a strategic and symbolic centre for the militants, one the Kiev government would dearly like to capture. Gen Krutov, however, is being careful: a hard core of the secessionist fighters are well trained; there are stockpiles of weapons and taking back the government buildings and police station is likely to be a bloody and messy affair.
There is also deep apprehension that a major urban assault, with the likelihood of high casualties, would give the Kremlin the reason, or pretext, depending on one’s point of view, to intervene. Vladimir Putin has already warned of “consequences” of such action, the Russians are continuing to carry out exercises across the border.
“I find it extraordinary, don’t you, that we are in 2014 [and] there is a state which seems to want to extend its territory, recreate an empire,” Colonel Yulia said. “It is so much against recent history, certainly in Europe, which has been about reconciliation and co-operation, the forming of trading blocs, creating a political framework which would avoid the use of force.
“But many of us feel there has been a failure of statesmanship, on both sides. During a previous confrontation in Crimea, the Alphas [anti-terrorist special forces] of Ukraine and the Russian Black Sea Fleet faced each other. At that time, the situation was defused by the political leadership in both countries. This time it seems the leaders don’t have the willingness to do so.
“Maybe this thing can still be resolved. Some people have taken part in violent protests because, in cases, they have been given vodka to do so. I get the feeling that most civilians around here just want the armed militants to go away. They don’t want to see fighting – all the damage that will do.”
There has been a small shift in public attitudes; a weariness about roadblocks and traffic queues, masked men with guns taking part in criminality under the guise of political action. The increasingly autocratic behaviour of Vyacheslav Ponomaryov, the newly installed pro-Moscow mayor in Slovyansk, has added to the disillusionment.
Protest checkpoints still abound, however, and one is on the road into the civil side of Kramatorsk airport. During my first meeting with Colonel Yulia, a few days before, a man from there came up to remonstrate about the presence of the troops. She was courteous and there was an amicable parting, with a promise from me that I would listen to the pickets’ side of the story.
The protester was polite, in contrast to the harangue directed a little while earlier to soldiers under the Colonel’s command. Did her being female make the difference?
“Valentin Nalivaychenko, the head of SBU, made a decision a while ago to look at gender breakdown within the organisation. I would like to think that those women who hold higher ranks do so on merit,” she said.
“I also think that if one makes an effort to listen to people, they may not use violence to express their grievances. It gives us a chance to explain why we are here [and] assure them that we will not be shooting at civilians – we are here to face external aggression. Maybe there should have been more talking in the past.”
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