Ukraine needs a government
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Ukraine has promised Russia that it will pay $786 mil lion as a first installment on its back debt.
Russia has given many indications that it is seeking an accommodation with the Kiev government. Presi dent Vladimir Putin said that he would “respect” the outcome of the May 25 elections, and that his gov ernment had no intention of heeding the calls of the breakaway Donetsk Peoples Republic (DPR) for Rus sia to annex the eastern region. And Russia has with drawn most of the troops that it had stationed on the Ukraine border—a fact that was confirmed by the U.S. State Department on May 30.
But despite the Kiev government’s talks with Russia, any notion that it will employ a soft hand in dealing with oppositionists must be put aside. Kiev troops are turning the country’s rebellious east into a battle ground. Casualties have steadily mounted as Ukraini an government forces advance on cities that have been held by supporters of the Donetsk Peoples Republic.
To be sure, the Ukrainian army draftees have shown little motivation in pursuing their military campaign against people in the east. In earlier confrontations, Kiev troops deserted to the rebels, bringing their ar mored vehicles and heavy weapons with them. More recently, anger has begun to swell in some districts of western Ukraine as young men are brought back in coffins. In several locations around the country, rela tives of soldiers have picketed and blockaded military bases; in at least one instance, parents marched onto a base to reclaim their conscripted sons.
The army’s poor record of dependability has caused the Kiev government to bolster its ranks with units of the newly formed National Guard—which includes members of the Right Sector and other fascist or ultra-right bands—as well as with semi-private armies fi nanced by various capitalist oligarchs.
The city of Slovansk has become a military focal point. The Kiev government has used jets, helicopters, and artillery to fire on residential neighborhoods, hos pitals, and schools. According to the Kyiv Post, some refugees from the fighting in the east have started to arrive in Russia-annexed Crimea.
On May 29, DPR fighters shot down a helicopter that had been ferrying National Guard troops to their bat tle station on the outskirts of Slovansk. Reports stated that 14 men had been killed on board, including Gen eral Serhiy Kulchytiskiy, the top officer in charge of