Ukraine crackdown kills militants

Ukraine has launched its first major offensive against the insurgency sweeping the east of the country, killing and wounding a number of militants.

Russia said Kiev’s military move against the insurgents had “destroyed” the two-week-old Geneva agreement on cooling Ukraine’s crisis.

At Russia’s request the UN Security Council tonight held an emergency session on the crisis as US President Barack Obama said it was obvious to everyone now that the pro-Russia militants were not merely peaceful protesters.

Earlier today, pro-Russia forces shot down two Ukrainian helicopters as the government began its offensive against an insurgency that has seized government buildings in the east.

Fighting broke out around dawn near Slovyansk, a Ukrainian city 100 miles from the Russian border that has become the focus of the armed insurgency. Two helicopter crew members were killed in the crashes and the insurgents reported one member killed.

By early evening, acting President Oleksander Turchynov said the army controlled all of the checkpoints around Slovyansk, a city of 125,000 people. He said two Ukrainian soldiers were killed and seven wounded in the clashes while the insurgents suffered significant losses.

“Our security forces are fighting mercenaries of foreign states, terrorists and criminals,” Mr Turchynov said in a statement.

One of the downed helicopters was hit by a surface-to-air missile, the Ukrainian Security Service said, calling it a sophisticated weapon that undercut Russia’s claims the city was simply under the control of armed locals. The agency said its forces were fighting “highly skilled foreign military men” in Slovyansk.

Central Slovyansk still remained in the hands of pro-Russia gunmen.

A clash also broke out tonight between pro-Russians and government supporters in Odessa, a Black Sea coast port 330 miles from the turmoil in the east. Police said one person was shot dead and other was wounded. Until now, Odessa had remained largely untroubled since the February toppling of pro-Russia President Viktor Yanukovych, which ignited tensions in the east.

Mr Turchynov admitted earlier this week that the central government had lost control of the east, and said some government troops and police there were “either helping or cooperating with terrorist organisations”. He said Ukrainian forces were working to prevent the unrest from spreading to central areas like Odessa.

In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman said the Ukrainian offensive “effectively destroyed the last hope for the implementation of the Geneva agreements” that aimed to defuse the crisis. But Dmitry Peskov said Russia “continues to undertake consistent efforts on de-escalation.”

Mr Putin had warned Ukraine not to move against the insurgents and said it should withdraw its military from the volatile eastern and southern regions.

Russia’s foreign ministry accused Ukraine’s fledging government of using “terrorists” from ultranationalist organisations in today’s military operation. It also claimed that Kiev deployed tanks and helicopters that were “conducting missile strikes on protesters”.

Ukrainian troops at first met fierce resistance but managed to take control of nine checkpoints on the roads around Slovyansk, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said. He called on the insurgents to lay down their arms and release their hostages.

“We are ready to negotiate with protesters and their representatives,” Mr Avakov said. “But for terrorists and armed separatists, there is only punishment.”