Posted on 06/13/2014 4:47:27 PM PDT by wetphoenix
Mariupol (Ukraine) (AFP) - Inside the grand pre-revolutionary mansion that had served as a barracks for separatist fighters in Mariupol, a full bowl of soup still lying on the table gave an indication of the haste with which they had left.
Elsewhere too, there were signs of a quick exit. Chunks of the wall were missing. Glass from broken windows littered the floor alongside cigarettes and copies of the rebel newspaper Novorossiya.
The rebels had spent weeks in the building, constructing formidable barricades of concrete blocks and sandbags on the roads surrounding it. But the fortifications were not enough when, in the early hours of Friday morning, a battalion of special forces sent by the Ukrainian government routed the fighters from their stronghold.
Alexei, 21, who lives nearby, said he watched as several hundred Ukrainian special forces from the Azov battalion, backed up by snipers, had attacked the rebels.
"They were shooting machine guns and Kalashnikovs and there were snipers on the roofs," said Alexei, a welder.
Residents were struck by fear, he said, and no one knew what was going on. Local television did not broadcast any information about the attack until around 7am, when the battle was over.
"It was very loud. It lasted more than five hours," said another resident, a 34-year-old metalworker also named Alexei.
Mariupol, a bustling port city of more than half a million people, has wavered between rebel and Kiev control for weeks and was the scene of pitched battles on May 9 that killed more than a dozen people.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Was this defeat of the rebels good or bad?
The ones defeated are not rebels. They’re fighters that infiltrated from Russia.
The army of united Ukraine is gaining control. Citizens are sending food & supplies from all over Ukraine as well as diaspora. Volunteer militia have formed in the east to support Ukraine army & protect their homes.
I think you would appreciate the series of dispatches from VICE NEWS. It is very well done with English subtitles. In fact the 1st reporter was captured for a time & beaten. This ‘dispatch’ is the most current: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WY3eDlbvcMs. But I recommend starting with number the first concerning Crimean invasion.
It probably depends on which side you are rooting for.
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