Ukraine in ‘Undeclared War’ With Russia as Rebels Unite
By Daryna Krasnolutska, Kateryna Choursina & Volodymyr Verbyany May 13, 2014 8:29 AM ET
Ukraine is fighting an “undeclared war” with Russia, its defense minister said, as rebels in its eastern region sought to secede and Russian gas export monopoly OAO Gazprom (GAZP) gave Kiev a deadline to pay or risk being cut off.
Facing a military assault by Ukrainian government troops, the self-styled Donetsk People’s Republic and neighboring Luhansk agreed to unite today, a day after declaring themselves sovereign states. Donetsk said 90 percent of voters backed splitting from Ukraine in a May 11 referendum that was rejected by the U.S. and European Union as illegitimate and marred by irregularities. Luhansk reported a similar ballot result.
The events echo Russia’s annexation of Crimea in March, Ukraine’s government and its U.S. and European allies say President Vladimir Putin is stoking unrest that’s threatening to rip apart the former Soviet republic ahead of a May 25 presidential election. At least 40 people have died in two months of fighting between government forces and rebels in Donetsk, the Unian news service reported yesterday.
“In our eastern regions we have an undeclared war,” acting Defense Minister Mykhaylo Koval told reporters in Kiev today. “Our neighboring country unleashed the war, sending special forces and saboteurs into our territory.”
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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-12/ukraine-rebels-seek-to-join-russia-as-gas-deadline-set.html
