Ukraine's president-elect Petro Poroshenko has pledged to bring peace to the country's increasingly turbulent east, where government forces and pro-Russian rebels yesterday battled for control of the main regional airport in Donetsk.
With 85 per cent of votes counted after Sunday's election, chocolate tycoon Mr Poroshenko had 54 per cent of votes, ahead of former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko on 13 per cent.
But the scale of his most urgent task was underlined early yesterday morning, when separatist rebels who have declared independence in Donetsk region, seized the terminal of its main airport.
Officials said they gave the rebels a deadline to leave the airport, and when it expired helicopter gunships and fighter jets targeted the building and paratroopers were deployed to drive out the insurgents.
Police cordoned off the airport, but the sound of gunfire and explosions continued throughout the day and warplanes roared overhead.
Last night, officials claimed that government forces controlled the airport, but that could not be confirmed. “It’s just getting worse,” said retired nurse Marina Borisovna, as she sheltered under a tree from a huge thunderstorm that jangled the already strained nerves of Donetsk residents.
“Gunmen are running around and now we can hear explosions. Whether we live in our own state or with Russia or with Ukraine, we just need peace.”
Shooting also rocked central Donetsk, with at least one person being killed at the railway station. It was not clear who was responsible, but officials urged local people to stay at home.
“Peace in the country and peace in the east is my main priority,” Mr Poroshenko (48) said yesterday, while promising tough action against rebels, who Kiev and its western allies believe are covertly backed by Russia. “These are simply bandits. Nobody in any civilised state will hold negotiations with terrorists,” he said.
Anti-terrorist operation Promising more funds for security forces that “should no longer be naked, barefoot and hungry”, the billionaire demanded that their crackdown on the separatists be “quicker and more effective”.
“The anti-terrorist operation should not last two or three months. It should last for a matter of hours,” Mr Poroshenko insisted. The former foreign minister is determined to reduce Moscow’s influence on Ukraine and strengthen ties with the European Union, but he said he wanted to resolve the crisis with Russia’s help and hoped to meet its officials in early June.
"We are ready for dialogue with representatives of Kiev, with Petro Poroshenko," said Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov who, along with other top officials, has softened Moscow's public line on Ukraine in recent days.
“We are ready for pragmatic dialogue, on an equal footing, based on respect for all agreements, in particular in the commercial, economic and gas spheres. We respect the result of the choice of the Ukrainian people,” he added.
He made clear that the Kremlin wanted direct talks with Ukraine, without mediation from the EU or US, which have imposed sanctions on Moscow for its annexation of Crimea and threaten to broaden them if Russia continues to destabilise its neighbour.
Kiev and the West believe Russia is determined to undermine Ukraine's new government and stop the country moving out of Moscow's orbit and towards the EU, following an uprising that toppled pro-Kremlin president Viktor Yanukovich.
President Vladimir Putin denies meddling in Ukraine, while also vowing to defend Russian speakers there who he claims are threatened by “fascist” supporters of the new Kiev authorities – despite a weak showing by far-right candidates in the election.
Ukraine insists it has plenty of evidence of Russian interference however, not least the appearance in central Donetsk on Sunday of truckloads of heavily armed fighters, some of whom reportedly admitted they were from Chechnya.
Despite his appalling record on human rights and free speech, Chechnya’s Moscow-backed leader Ramzan Kadyrov has sharply criticised Kiev’s leaders and claimed credit for the release from Ukraine of two Russian journalists suspected of helping the separatists. Mr Kadyrov denies sending fighters to Ukraine.
Leaders from EU states and the US praised the conduct of the election, as did western monitors, despite hardly anyone in Donetsk and Luhansk regions voting due to sabotage and intimidation by the rebels.
Mr Poroshenko's ally, former world boxing champion Vitaliy Klitschko, was poised to become mayor of Kiev after a local election on Sunday.
