The United States and Germany have threatened to impose sanctions on entire sectors of Russia’s economy if it tries to sabotage Ukraine’s presidential election, after deadly clashes in two Ukrainian cities.
Police in the southern port of Odessa said at least 38 people died in a fire at a building occupied by pro-Moscow protesters and in earlier street fighting in the city.
Meanwhile, at least seven people were killed around the eastern militant stronghold of Slovyansk, when the Ukrainian military seized several rebel checkpoints in the most forceful display of a halting “anti-terrorist” operation in restive eastern regions.
Kiev said the militants fired shoulder-launched missiles at the helicopters, belying Russia's insistence that anti-government activists are just angry locals with basic weapons. "It's a real battle we are waging against professional mercenaries," said Ukraine's interior minister Arsen Avakov.
'Lay down weapons'
"The goal of our anti-terrorist operation and, at the same time, our demands to the terrorists are simple: free the hostages, lay down weapons, vacate administrative buildings and get municipal infrastructure back to normal. We are ready to negotiate with protesters and their representatives," Mr Avakov added. "But for terrorists and armed separatists, there is only punishment."
Officials said two helicopter crewmen were killed, and the rebels said three of their fighters and two local civilians died. Ukrainian president Oleksandr Turchinov said “many” militants had been killed, wounded or captured. Ukraine and its western allies accuse Moscow of sending agents into largely Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine to foment unrest, make the region ungovernable and wreck this month’s presidential election.
'Destabilisation'
"If . . . we see the disruptions and the destabilisation continuing so severely that it impedes elections on May 25th, we will not have a choice but to move forward with additional . . . severe sanctions," US president Barack Obama said, adding that those measures would "target certain sectors of the Russian economy."
After talks at the White House, German chancellor Angela Merkel added: “May 25th is not all that far away. Should it not be possible to stabilise the situation further, sanctions will be unavoidable . . . It’s very much up to the Russians which road we will embark on, but we are firmly resolved to continue to travel down that road.”
The rebels, who control official buildings in more than a dozen eastern towns, intend to hold a referendum on May 11th on whether their self-declared “people’s republics” of Donetsk and Luhansk should be independent.
