- Title: UKRAINE: Donetsk separatists pledge to fight at pro-Russian rally
- Date: 22nd June 2014
- Summary: DONETSK, UKRAINE (JUNE 22, 2014) (REUTERS) LENIN MONUMENT ON CENTRAL SQUARE, RUSSIAN FLAGS VARIOUS OF PEOPLE AT RALLY PEOPLE CHANTING "RUSSIA! RUSSIA!" PEOPLE CHANTING "DONBASS! DONBASS!'' PEOPLE CHANTING "DONBASS IS RUSSIAN!" WOMAN HOLDING BANNER READING IN ENGLISH "SAVE DONBASS PEOPLE FROM UKRAINIAN ARMY" (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) WOMAN WITH BANNER, SVETLANA, SAYING: "I wan
- Embargoed: 7th July 2014 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Ukraine
- Country: Ukraine
- Topics: Conflict,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA9TRYPZKFDH3ZF4NJXIAQ4WOFC
- Story Text: Donetsk separatists give military oath of allegiance at a pro-Russian rally, rebel leader pledges to fight.
Several hundred people gathered at a pro-Russian rally in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk on Sunday (June 22).
Chanting "Russia! Russia!" and "Donbass is Russian!", they were joined by armed men in military uniform from the self-proclaimed "Donestk People's Republic" who run insurgency in eastern Ukraine.
The rebel leaders have already denounced the seven-day ceasefire announced by President Petro Poroshenko on Friday (June 20).
"I want in the very near future to be in Kiev along with our Donetsk and Luhansk friends. So that junta would answer for all those women and children that were killed. I want them to face the trial held by the people. I want them to answer for what they've done. There are no separatists here, there are no terrorists. We are here, peaceful residents," said Svetlana, a local resident holding a banner reading "Save Donbass people from Ukrainian army".
The insurgency in the largely Russian-speaking east erupted in April after street protests in the capital Kiev toppled the Moscow-backed leader Viktor Yanukovich. Russia subsequently annexed Ukraine's Crimean peninsula and the West has accused Russia of supporting the insurgency.
As a part of the rally, a small number of rebels took a military oath of allegiance to the "Donetsk People's Republic" vowing to fight.
"I see men with fire in their eyes, with decisiveness in their eyes. They are ready to take up their arms and face death for the sake of freedom of our land," prominent rebel leader Pavel Gubarev said on stage.
Ukraine's state border service reported further rebel attacks on its posts in Luhansk region on Sunday, while a separatist spokesman said Ukrainian forces were firing mortars at a village near the Russian frontier.
In Donetsk region rebels reported a morning shootout with Ukrainian troops in Siversk, north of the city of Donetsk. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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