SLOVYANSK, Ukraine - Russia began new military exercises near its border with Ukraine, the defense minister announced Thursday, after Ukrainian forces began an operation to drive pro-Russia insurgents out of occupied buildings in the country’s tumultuous east.
The Ukrainian move, which killed at least two people, elicited new threats from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who called it a “punitive operation.”
“If the Kiev government is using the army against its own people, this is clearly a grave crime,” Putin said.
His statement and the announcement of new military exercises involving ground and air forces sharpened anxiety over the prospect of a Russian military incursion into Ukraine. Russia’s foreign minister warned a day earlier that any attack on Russian citizens or interests in eastern Ukraine would bring a strong response.
The crisis “could quickly spin out of control,” U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned Thursday.
Secretary of State John Kerry denounced the Russian actions and, in unusually blunt language, warned that unless Moscow took immediate steps to de-escalate the situation, Washington would have no choice but to impose additional economic sanctions on the country.
“Following today’s threatening movement of Russian troops right up to Ukraine’s border, let me be clear: If Russia continues in this direction, it will not just be a grave mistake; it will be an expensive mistake,” Kerry said. “The window to change course is closing,”
Accusing Russia of fomenting unrest and separatist sentiment in eastern Ukraine after its annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, Kerry added: “Nobody should doubt Russia’s hand in this.”
“What is happening in eastern Ukraine is a military operation that is well-planned and organized, and we assess that it is being carried out at the direction of Russia,” Kerry said.
Animosity between Moscow and Kiev has been high since the ouster of Russia-friendly president Viktor Yanukovych in February after months of protests. Russia contends the government that took over consists of nationalists who aim to suppress the large Russian-speaking population in Ukraine’s east.
In March, Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula after its residents voted to split off from Ukraine. Russian troops backed up local militias that blocked off Ukrainian military bases in the run-up to the referendum.
Ukraine’s acting president also accused Russia of backing the separatists in the east and demanded that Moscow stop its intimidation campaign and leave his country alone.
Oleksandr Turchynov said in an address to the nation Thursday that Russia was “coordinating and openly supporting terrorist killers” in eastern Ukraine, where government buildings in at least 10 cities have been seized by pro-Russia gunmen.
Ukraine and Russia reached a deal in Geneva last week to defuse the crisis, but pro-Russian insurgents in the east - and nationalist militants in Kiev - have defied calls for all sides to disarm and to vacate the buildings they are occupying.
Putin denies that any Russian agents are operating there, but insists he has the right to intervene to protect the ethnic Russians who make up a sizable minority in the east.
Earlier in Tokyo, President Barack Obama accused Moscow of failing to live up to “the spirit or the letter” of last week’s deal to ease tensions in Ukraine. If that continues, Obama said, “there will be further consequences and we will ramp up further sanctions.”
Meanwhile, an American journalist who had been held by insurgents in the eastern city of Slovyansk was freed Thursday.
Simon Ostrovsky of Vice News said in a brief phone call that he had been freed and was heading to Donetsk, the largest city in the region. He did not give details of his seizure or his release.
Ostrovsky disappeared early Tuesday in Slovyansk. A spokesman for the insurgents later said he was being held at a Ukrainian security service that had been seized earlier.
Slovyansk, 100 miles west of the Russian border, has emerged as the focus of the armed insurgency.
The Ukrainian Interior Ministry said military and special police forces killed “up to five terrorists” Thursday while destroying three checkpoints north of Slovyansk. One government security service member was wounded, it said.
Stella Khorosheva, a spokesman for the Slovyansk insurgents, said two pro-Russia fighters were killed at a checkpoint in the village of Khrestyshche, 6 miles north of the city.
Khorosheva said the pro-Russia militia later regained control over the checkpoints where the clashes took place. Khorosheva declared that the fighters were ready to repel any attack by government troops.
“We will defend ourselves to our last drop of blood. We are ready to repeat Stalingrad,” she said, referring to the Soviet army’s victory over German forces in 1942-43.
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said his forces had cleared City Hall in Mariupol of the pro-Russia protesters who had been occupying it for more than a week. He provided no details of the operation in the city, which sits along the main road between mainland Russia and Crimea.
Yulia Lasazan, a spokesman for Mariupol’s police department, said about 30 masked men armed with baseball bats stormed the building before dawn Thursday and started beating the pro-Russia protesters. Five people were taken to a hospital, she said.
Information for this article was contributed by Jim Heintz of The Associated Press.
Front Section, Pages 6 on 04/25/2014