Ukraine army in fatal clashes with separatists to regain control of east

• Ukraine army in fatal clashes with separatists to regain control of east

  
  5 May 2014: Four Ukrainian soldiers killed and at least 30 injured in latest fighting, as funerals are held for people killed in Odessa fire
  
  
  • Ukrainian troops clash with pro-Russia militia in gun battles around Slavyansk
  • Ukraine crisis: tension mounts in Kramatorsk after army rolls in
  • Pro-Russia prisoners released as activists storm Odessa police HQ
    Four Ukrainian soldiers killed and at least 30 injured in latest fighting, as funerals are held for people killed in Odessa fire
  • Shaun Walker in Donetsk and Howard Amos in Odessa
  • The Guardian, Monday 5 May 2014 18.20 BST
  

  Floral tributes are laid in the trade union building in Odessa where dozens of people died in a fire last Friday. Photograph: Gail Orenstein/NurPhoto/Corbis
  Four Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and at least 30 injured, according to official figures, in clashes with separatists as the army attempted to regain control of the east of the country. There was fighting at a number of points on the outskirts of Slavyansk on Monday, the base of the armed movement that has taken over multiple cities in the east of Ukraine.
  The separatists also reported a number of deaths in the fighting – though exact figures were impossible to verify – and a military helicopter was shot down, although both pilots survived, according to the defence ministry.
  The self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic plans to hold a referendum on independence on Sunday, with much of the region outside Kiev's control. As well as the clashes in the east, the fallout from the violence and fatal fire late last week in Odessa continued to be felt on Monday.
  Under a leaden sky at the edge of a cemetery in Odessa, family and friends laid to rest Vladimir Markin, a local politician who was killed in the vicious street battles that convulsed the city last week.
  A short distance away, the funeral of another man who died fighting pro-Ukrainian crowds was also taking place. The burials were the first of dozens that will take place over the next weeks as the port city struggles to come to terms with Ukraine's most violent day since the new regime swept to power in February.
  Markin, 44, was a key supporter of a semi-permanent protest camp against the current Kiev government in Odessa that was burnt to the ground on Friday before fighting moved to the nearby trade union building. At some point during the melee he was badly beaten and died in intensive care in a local hospital the following day.
  The other funeral was of Maksim Nikitenko, 31, who was also killed early on during the struggle inside the trade union building. "They fought and cracked open his skull and then he was thrown out of the window," said Petya, a friend.
  Nikitenko was not a separatist or an extremist, but he ran to defend the trade union building when he heard it was under attack, Petya added.
  Before the burials, Markin's open casket was laid on display in the local parliament building for friends, colleagues and residents of Odessa to pay their last respects.
  Outside, an angry crowd gathered and the regional governor, who had come to lay his own flowers, was assaulted and forced to flee ignominiously down a corridor. When pallbearers carried the coffin out of the building, people clapped and chanted "Odessa is a Russian city", "Hero, hero, hero!" and "Odessa will not forgive nor forget".
  The Ukrainian interior ministry said on Monday morning that 42 people detained during the violence had been transferred to other parts of the country. The move came after an angry mob forced police to release over 60 detainees on Sunday. Interior minister Arsen Avakov also said that a special forces battalion had been transferred to the city to help keep order.
  The Ukrainian government has said that the violence was initiated by Russian provocateurs, while Russia has referred to the deaths – many of which were caused by a fire which broke out inside the building – as a massacre inspired by "neo-Nazis". The horrific events have only served to worsen an already tense situation.
  Supporters of closer ties with Russia, who made up the majority of the mourners, blame the government in Kiev – which they describe as a "junta" and illegitimate, mirroring Russian state propaganda about the new Ukrainian authorities – for the deaths last week. They accuse the police of failing to act swiftly enough to stop the violence.
  Ukraine has accused Russia of directing the separatists, providing weapons and using proxy figures on the ground. Most analysts think that Russia does not want a Crimea-style annexation of eastern Ukraine, but merely to stir up discontent and disrupt elections planned for the end of May.
  In recent days, President Vladimir Putin has made no public statements about the situation, but the Russian foreign ministry again pinned the blame on Kiev in a statement on Monday evening.
  "The so-called authorities in Kiev continue to wage war against the people of their own country," said the ministry. It said there was a "humanitarian catastrophe" brewing in the east of the country and called on Kiev to "stop the bloodshed".
  Ukrainian authorities have likewise repeatedly called on Russia to stop stirring unrest in the region, as accusations continue to fly between the two countries.
  Germany said on Monday it was pushing for a fresh set of diplomatic talks in Geneva between Russia, Ukraine, the EU and US, to push for a return to the accord reached last month that encouraged all sides to put down their weapons.
  Foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said new talks were needed to reach a "clear conclusion as to how this conflict can be brought to a halt".
  In eastern Ukraine, surveys show that the vast majority of people want more autonomy from Kiev but only a minority want to join Russia.
  However, the mood in the past week has turned nastier, with crowds frequently burning Ukrainian flags, and many people speaking about a "point of no return".
  In Odessa, 52-year-old Igor Bulatov, an engineer who attended the funerals, said that while there were few separatists among current pro-Russian protesters, the deaths last week might change that.
  "I came to pay my respects to people who were deliberately murdered … when you kill people for their ideas it is fascism," he said.
  "Recent events mean a lot of people are now wondering about what country they want to live in. There is an atmosphere of shock, it is a moment of self-definition: people have to decide who they are and what they want."
  
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