Ukraine’s first big win over rebels dims truce hopes

[unhappycamper]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/07/06/ukraines-first-big-win-over-rebels-dims-truce-hopes/



Ukraine’s first big win over rebels dims truce hopes
By Agence France-Presse
Sunday, July 6, 2014 8:43 EDT

Resurgent Ukrainian forces on Sunday pursued retreating pro-Russian rebels after seizing their symbolic bastion in a morale-boosting win that appeared to dim hopes for a ceasefire in the bloody separatist insurgency.

Western-backed President Petro Poroshenko called the moment when his troops hoisted the Ukrainian flag over the militias’ seat of power in Slavyansk “a turning point” in a campaign that has killed nearly 500 people and inflamed East-West ties.

The rebels admitted suffering heavy losses while abandoning the strategic city nearly three months to the day after its capture marked the onset of a new and even more bloody chapter in Ukraine’s worst crisis since independence in 1991.

Most analysts think Poroshenko desperately needed a battlefield success one month into his presidency to secure the trust of Ukrainians frustrated by their underfunded army’s inability to stand up to what they see as Russian aggression.

[Duckhunter935]

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