Conditions worsen in Donetsk

Fighting continues; pro-Russia rebels waffle on cease-fire

Ukrainian fire fighters put out the fire at the destroyed buses after shelling in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, Sunday, Aug. 10, 2014. Fighting raged Sunday in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk despite a request from the pro-Russian rebels there for a cease-fire to prevent a "humanitarian catastrophe." One person was killed and 10 injured in shelling that started early Sunday morning and continued into the day, city council spokesman Maxim Rovinsky told The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Ukrainian fire fighters put out the fire at the destroyed buses after shelling in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, Sunday, Aug. 10, 2014. Fighting raged Sunday in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk despite a request from the pro-Russian rebels there for a cease-fire to prevent a "humanitarian catastrophe." One person was killed and 10 injured in shelling that started early Sunday morning and continued into the day, city council spokesman Maxim Rovinsky told The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Monday, August 11, 2014

DONETSK, Ukraine — Fighting raged in the city of Donetsk on Sunday, as government forces continued to close in on the rebel stronghold and pro-Russia insurgents backed away from an unconditional cease-fire offer that they announced the day before.

With a string of military successes and broad support for its campaign from the West and most of its domestic base, Kiev has taken a hard line against the rebel forces and promised it will not relent until the separatists surrender. Donetsk remained a ghost town Sunday, with few civilians daring to venture outside as explosions rang out every few minutes and burnt-out buses and buildings smoldered from the night before.

In a statement Saturday, newly elected rebel leader Aleksandr Zakharchenko appeared to call for a cease-fire without stating any preconditions. But on Sunday, rebel spokesman Elena Nikitina repeated the rebels’ earlier stance, saying that talks on the conflict could begin only if the Ukrainian army withdrew from the region — something Kiev is unlikely to do.

She also denounced the government as “incapable of negotiating.”

Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council spokesman Andriy Lysenko said the only way for the rebels in Donetsk to save their lives would be to “lay down their arms and give up.” He said the Ukrainian side hadn’t seen the rebels show any real willingness to cooperate.

“If white flags come up and they lay down their arms, nobody is going to shoot at them,” he said. “[But] we have not seen any practical steps yet, just a statement.”

Lysenko added that the Ukrainian military’s recent successes in encircling Donetsk had bred “panic and chaos in the ranks of the rebels,” and said the Kiev government had information about rebels “deserting their posts en masse.”

Conditions were clearly deteriorating in Donetsk, the largest rebel stronghold in eastern Ukraine. Reporters said 25 loud explosions in as many minutes were heard around noon. According to City Council spokesman Maxim Rovinsky, at least one person was killed and 10 injured in shelling overnight, as more than 10 residential buildings, a hospital and a shop were heavily damaged in the fighting.

Rovinsky said he believed that 100,000 people had left the city of 1 million in the past week alone — adding to the 300,000 who were already estimated to have fled. He said at least 10,000 people were without electricity and that the local government was working hard to preserve access to gas, electricity and phone service and “avoid a humanitarian crisis.” More than 1,300 people have died in the conflict since April, according to a United Nations estimate.

“This is a real war. It’s impossible to live in this city. I’ve been sleeping in the basement for the past week,” said Inna Drobyshevskaya, a 48-year-old lawyer in Donetsk.

“We don’t want Novorossiya [New Russia] for this price,” she added, referring to a term used by rebels to describe the parts of eastern Ukraine seeking independence from the government in Kiev.

Rebel leader Zakharchenko’s apparent call for a cease-fire Saturday was met with support from Russia, where Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was quoted by news agency ITAR TASS as saying a truce was “not only possible, but necessary.”

“We believe the question is urgent and there can be no delay, and the issue is under the control of the Russian president,” he said. Lavrov said that Russia was reaching out to the Red Cross and the U.N. to discuss the possibility of delivering humanitarian aid to the region.

However, the rebels’ request was met warily by government officials in Kiev and in the West. Those leaders expressed concern that the move could be aimed at increasing international pressure on Ukraine to allow in a Russian aid mission. The West says that could be used as a pretext to get Russian soldiers into Ukraine — and says 20,000 of them are massed near the Russian border with Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Western leaders have repeatedly accused Russia of providing arms and expertise to the rebels, something Russia denies.

He issued a statement late Saturday saying that Ukraine was prepared to accept humanitarian assistance in eastern Ukraine. But he said the aid must go in without military assistance, pass through border checkpoints under Ukrainian control and be an international mission.

Poroshenko said he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed German participation in such a mission.

On Sunday, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier expressed “great concern” that the humanitarian situation for civilians in Donetsk and Luhansk is getting worse. He said Germany is already working with the International Committee of the Red Cross and U.N. agencies to ensure that existing aid is coordinated and gets delivered where it is needed.

Information for this article was contributed by Laura Mills, Geir Moulson and Vitnija Saldava of The Associated Press.