Ukraine Slides Deeper Toward War as Russia Warns on Vote

[Purveyor]

Source: Bloomberg

By Daryna Krasnolutska, Daria Marchak and Ryan Chilcote May 14, 2014 9:33 AM ET

Ukraine “is as close to civil war as you can get,” and a solution to the crisis must satisfy its regions, Russia said, after eastern rebels ambushed a Ukrainian army convoy in the deadliest blow in their campaign to secede.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said there is a “real war” in eastern and southern Ukraine, where more than 30 attackers struck a convoy yesterday near the city of Kramatorsk, killing at least six paratroopers. Having accused Russia of supporting separatists with its special forces and saboteurs, Ukrainian acting Defense Minister Mykhaylo Koval said the two countries were embroiled in an “undeclared war.”

The ambush was the rebels’ deadliest attack against Ukraine’s military since they began a campaign to secede after Russia annexed Crimea in March. The battle came after separatists in Luhansk and Donetsk agreed to join forces to confront the central government. Casualties included “quite a number” of “self-defense” fighters killed by artillery and mortars, which may complicate a May 25 presidential election.

“When Ukrainians kill Ukrainians, I believe it’s as close to civil war as you can get,” Lavrov told Bloomberg Television in an interview in Moscow. “In the east and south of Ukraine, there is a war, a real war, with heavy weaponry used, and if this is something that is conducive to free and fair elections, then I don’t understand something about freedom.”



Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-14/ukraine-slides-deeper-toward-war-as-russia-warns-on-vote.html

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