DONETSK, Ukraine. Donetsk airport is in ruins having been a strafed arena over several months as a result of armed conflict between Ukrainian army and pro-Russia ‘freedom fighters’.
The airport is currently being controlled by pro-Russia ‘freedom fighters’ who, recently, paraded over a dozen Ukrainian soldiers, prisoners of war, on the streets of Donetsk. The captured soldiers were publicly humiliated. In one instance, they were forced to kneel on the streets thereby exposing them to all kinds of vituperation from passers-by.
In response to the escalation of the conflict, especially the loss of Donetsk airport to pro-Russia ‘freedom fighters’ and the killing of circa 30 persons in Mariupol southeast Ukraine, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, prime minister of Ukraine, announced on 26/01/2015 that: “In accordance with the Code of Civil Defense of Ukraine, the Cabinet adopted a decision to recognize a state of emergency on the state level. The Ukrainian government has decided to impose the state of emergency in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions.” These two regions, Donetsk and Lugansk, are pro-Russia ‘freedom fighters’ stronghold.
The United States and the European Union have incessantly blamed the Russian Federation for the conflict in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin denies any military involvement; rather he reproached the Ukraine government. In his address to many students in the city of St. Petersburg, Putin said:
“We often say: Ukrainian Army, Ukrainian Army. But who is really fighting there? There are, indeed, partially official units of armed forces, but largely there are the so-called ‘volunteer nationalist battalions’…the Ukrainian army is not an army, but a foreign legion, in this case a foreign NATO legion, which, of course, doesn’t pursue the national interests of Ukraine…Unfortunately official Kiev authorities refuse to follow the path of a peaceful solution. They don’t want to resolve [the crisis] using political tools.”
Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has reacted to President Putin’s statement saying: “The statement that there is a NATO legion in Ukraine is nonsense. There is no NATO legion.”
Ukraine crisis was triggered when former president Viktor Yanukovych rejected an association agreement on closer trade ties with the European Union on November 2013, and accepted a counteroffer worth $15 billion from the Russian Federation. The Russian Federation had agreed to buy $15bn of debt and reduce the price of gas supplies to the country Ukraine.
Yanukovych’s acceptance of Russia’s offer was met with stiff resistance and anti-government protests that culminated in the death of over 80 persons in 48 hours on February 2013. On 22 February 2013, Yanukovych fled from Ukraine. Many believe he fled to Russia. It is estimated that over 5,000 persons have been killed since the conflict began.
After the fall of Yanukovych, the people of Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kharkiv, started calling for a referendum on independence. On 11 May 2013, pro-Russian freedom fighters in Donetsk and Luhansk declared independence after conducting referendums. The referendums were unacceptable to the Ukrainian government. Hence the ongoing armed conflict between Ukrainian army and pro-Russian freedom fighters.
