A Pro-Russian militant walks past burnt cars near a checkpoint that was the scene of a gunfight overnight near the city of Slaviansk, April 20, 2014. Gleb Garanich—Reuters
Ukraine Separatists Plead for Putin’s Help After Deadly Gunfight -- Time
Two groups clashed at a checkpoint near Slavyansk, with Ukraine saying one person was killed, while Russian state media reporting five dead
By Sunday morning, all that was left Ukraine’s Easter truce were two burned out cars at a separatist checkpoint, a few handfuls of bullet casings, and a bunch of implausible theories that the Russian media swallowed whole and spit back out across the airwaves. A few hours earlier, before dawn, two groups – one apparently made up of pro-Russians separatists, the other of pro-government loyalists – had clashed at the checkpoint near the town of Slavyansk. Reports of casualties differed, the Ukrainian government saying one person had been killed and Russian state media reporting five dead.
In a statement to TIME, the self-proclaimed mayor of the town of Slavyansk, the separatist stronghold in eastern Ukraine, said he was imposing a citywide curfew and sending more of his militants to patrol the streets after the violence. “Last night, at a time of truce and Easter prayer, and in violation of the agreed upon ceasefire, our town was attacked,” the putative mayor, Vyacheslav Ponomaryov, said in the statement transmitted through his spokeswoman on Sunday morning.
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My Comment: Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine were already ignoring the new Geneva pact that was aimed at easing tensions .... this is only going to inflame their anger at Kiev. As to what will Putin now do .... I predict nothing. It is going to take a lot more bloodshed and fighting for him to commit to a military solution .... and rhetoric aside .... when you factor in the political/economic/military costs ..... I still have doubts that he really wants to get involved.
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