Deadly clashes at Ukraine port base as leaders meet

Ukrainian attack helicopters buzzed villagers in Kramatorsk, but the army eventually had to give up, as Daniel Sandford reports. Three people were killed in a raid on a base in eastern Ukraine overnight, the country's interior minister says, as the US, Russia, the EU and Ukraine begin crisis talks in Geneva. The three pro-Russian separatists were killed in a clash with Ukrainian forces in Mariupol, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said on Facebook. The Geneva meeting is the first such gathering since the crisis escalated. The West says Russia is aiding the pro-Russian activists occupying buildings. In a live TV phone-in on Thursday Russia's President Vladimir Putin warned Kiev of "the abyss they're heading into" in eastern Ukraine and urged dialogue. He said the Kiev government, which had "seized power", had only spoken to its own appointees in the region, but "not to the people whom locals trust". Tensions escalated last month when Russia annexed Crimea, causing international outrage. Unrest later spread to Donetsk region, another mainly Russian-speaking area. It is Europe's worst crisis since the Cold War. Mr Putin is now taking questions from residents of Sevastopol, base of the Russian fleet in Crimea, the first place to feature in his phone-in. It is the first time Crimea has been included in Mr Putin's annual phone-in.

 

Overnight about 300 pro-Russian separatists attacked a military unit in Mariupol near the Azov Sea, throwing petrol bombs. Troops opened fire, killing three, Mr Avakov said. The operation is continuing - Ukraine has sent in reinforcements including helicopters. There was no independent confirmation of his statement. According to Mr Avakov, 13 of the attackers were wounded and so far 63 have been detained. He said none of the interior ministry troops had been killed. It is the heaviest casualty toll in any single incident so far in eastern Ukraine.

Mariupol is in the far south of Donetsk region, where separatists have seized dozens of official buildings. Ukrainian SBU special forces have gone to the aid of the interior ministry troops in Mariupol and armoured vehicles have gone into the city from places nearby, Ukraine's Unian news agency reports. Retreating separatists reportedly wounded two passers-by, set a minibus ablaze and also set fire to a building next to the military garrison. "Through joint efforts by the armed police and national guard the attacking gang was dispersed after a short battle, most of them were cornered and disarmed," Mr Avakov said. "Because it was such an aggressive attack on a military unit - an interior ministry group - we decided to reinforce them with Omega special forces. Helicopters have been deployed." According to a report on Russia's state-run Vesti TV news, unarmed local protesters tried to talk to the Ukrainian troops but were met with gunfire. Quoting unnamed Mariupol residents, the TV channel said shots were also fired at first-aid paramedics.

Some locals say Ukrainian Right Sector ultra-nationalists have joined Kiev's forces in Mariupol, while separatists have erected street barricades, the TV reports. Russia's annexation of Crimea has fuelled concern that other parts of eastern Ukraine could also break away from Kiev's control and join Russia. In his TV broadcast, President Putin said Russia had "never planned to annex Crimea or take military action there, but threats to Russian speakers there were real". He again denied allegations of Russian involvement in eastern Ukraine, calling them "nonsense". But addressing Sevastopol residents he said the Russian military were "behind the backs of self-defence forces in Crimea" and there had been a need to make ammunition at Crimean bases secure, so that Ukrainian forces could not use it against civilians.

US accuses Russia

Earlier, US President Barack Obama warned Russia against support for further action by armed pro-Russian groups. "What I have said consistently is that each time Russia takes these kinds of steps that are designed to destabilise Ukraine and violate their sovereignty, that there are going to be consequences," he said. Reports say that the White House is considering a package of non-lethal aid for the Ukrainian military. This may include clothing and medical supplies. Meanwhile, Ukraine's military operation against separatists has hit obstacles.

Called an "anti-terrorist" operation by the Kiev government, it started on Tuesday and is designed to dislodge pro-Russia gunmen from local authority buildings in a swathe of cities and towns in eastern Ukraine. Pro-Russian activists want referendums on greater autonomy for the south-east or the right to join the Russian Federation. But in several districts, Ukrainian troops met vehement opposition on Wednesday from pro-Russia militants. In the city of Kramatorsk, six military vehicles were commandeered by gunmen, who disarmed the Ukrainian soldiers and sent some of them home on buses. 

A US official, speaking as Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Geneva, stressed that Russia must "take this opportunity to de-escalate" or face a tightening of sanctions. Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Andriy Deshchytsya, called on Russia "not to support terrorist activities in eastern Ukraine." As if to further illustrate the gulf between the West and Russia over the crisis, Russia's foreign ministry accused Washington of "the persistent unwillingness or inability to see reality as it is in fact, and in a striving to impose on the rest of the world a distorted perception of what is happening in southeast Ukraine." Russia, which strongly opposed the ousting of Ukraine's pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych in February, has proposed a new constitution which devolves more power to the regions. Expectations for the talks are low, says the BBC's Gavin Hewitt in Geneva. Russia's stance has particularly alarmed Nato member countries with large Russian-speaking minorities, such as Latvia and Estonia. So Nato announced on Wednesday that it was beefing up its eastern members' defences. In Brussels, Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen promised "more planes in the air, more ships on the water, more readiness on the land".