- Title: UKRAINE: Pro-Russian separatists vow to fight on despite ceasefire
- Date: 22nd June 2014
- Summary: . SIVERSK, DONETSK REGION, UKRAINE (JUNE 22, 2014) (REUTERS) TWO LOCAL RESIDENTS ON MOTORBIKE, OLDER MAN WALKING WITH TWO BUCKETS REBELS IN COURTYARD (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) PRO-RUSSIAN SEPARATIST WHO SAYS HE CAME TO FIGHT FROM UZBEKISTAN, BAKHTIYAR KAMALOV, SAYING: "What ceasefire? What ceasefire? Yesterday they battered us all. They battered us all. I have seen a drone, for the first time in my life I've seen a drone." REBELS IN COURTYARD REBEL SEWING (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) REBEL IN FACE MASK, WHO GAVE HIS NAME AS "KHMURY", SAYING: "I'm going to come to Kiev. If I come to Kiev now then I'm a criminal for them. But I have relatives there, I have a son, I'm from Kiev. I want to come home as a normal man. I don't want to go to war, I'm not young anymore, I don't like it." EYES IN FACE MASK FINGERS (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) REBEL IN FACE MASK, WHO GAVE HIS NAME AS "KHMURY", SAYING: "Okay, I went to Moscow. In the end of March or in the beginning of April I went to Moscow. My brother lives there, all that. And people say there that it is professionals who fight here, mercenaries. There are no mercenaries here - look here, look around at these people, they are local residents. And those who came here too." TWO LOCAL RESIDENTS WITH BICYCLES (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) LOCAL RESIDENT, VERA, SAYING: "When they (jets) fly over, we just pray to God: Lord, forgive them and forgive us too. That's what we say." TWO LOCAL RESIDENT CYCLING AWAY AMBULANCE IN COURTYARD REBEL IN WINDOW REBELS AND DOCTOR BRINGING INJURED REBEL ON STRETCHERS INTO AMBULANCE WOMAN WITH SON AND ANOTHER CHILD IN STROLLER (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) LOCAL RESIDENT VIKTORIA, SAYING: "Honestly, we are going to leave. But to be really honest, we have nowhere to go. We don't have any relatives anywhere. I don't even know what to do." CHILD IN STROLLER REBEL SMOKING, SEEN THROUGH TREE LEAVES (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) REBEL, WHO SAID HE IS FROM SLAVIANSK AND GAVE HIS NAME AS "DOMOVOY", SAYING: "I took up arms because peaceful people get killed, women and children. I have been thinking a long time before I made this decision, but I have no way back now. Because if they keep bombing and killing peaceful people I will not hesitate to give my life in the fight against this regime." REBELS REBELS AND LOCAL RESIDENTS BEHIND THEM ON ROAD SIDE VARIOUS OF OLD WOMAN GETTING ON MOTORBIKE WITH HELP FROM TWO MEN TWO MEN AND OLD WOMAN DRIVING AWAY ON MOTORBIKE
- Embargoed: 7th July 2014 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Ukraine
- Country: Ukraine
- Topics: Conflict,International Relations,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA381567WXLALJUPZNVABF2RG19
- Story Text: Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, some admitting they came from other countries, vow to fight for peaceful residents who feel increasingly scared for their lives and well-being.
Fighting flared between Ukrainian and pro-Moscow separatist forces, both sides reported on Sunday (June 22), further straining a unilateral ceasefire declared by Ukraine as Russian President Vladimir Putin pressed Kiev to talk to the rebels.
In the Donetsk region, which along with neighbouring Luhansk has declared itself a 'people's republic', rebels reported a morning shootout with Ukrainian troops in Siversk, north of Donetsk city.
A quiet small town not far from the rebel stronghold of Slaviansk, Siversk has seen some of the fighting in the past week and its residents are anxious about what is coming next.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced a seven-day ceasefire but it came under pressure almost as soon at it began on Friday night (June 20).
"What ceasefire? What ceasefire? Yesterday they battered us all. They battered us all. I have seen a drone, for the first time in my life I've seen a drone," one of the rebels, Bakhtiyar Kamalov, who said he came to fight from Uzbekistan, said.
His friend in a face mask, going by his nom de guerre "Khmury", said he wanted to advance as far as the capital Kiev.
"I'm going to come to Kiev. If I come to Kiev now then I'm a criminal for them. But I have relatives there, I have a son, I'm from Kiev. I want to come home as a normal man. I don't want to go to war, I'm not young anymore, I don't like it," he said.
Despite evidence given by a fellow rebel who came to fight from Central Asia, "Khmury" insisted the rebel units consisted of local residents and not mercenaries.
"Okay, I went to Moscow. In the end of March or in the beginning of April I went to Moscow. My brother lives there, all that. And people say there that it is professionals who fight here, mercenaries. There are no mercenaries here - look here, look around at these people, they are local residents. And those who came here too," the rebel added.
Two local residents, Vera and Viktor, heading on bicycles to another part of the town, said that ordinary people in Siversk are just caught in the crossfire between two warring sides.
"When they (jets) fly over, we just pray to God: Lord, forgive them and forgive us too. That's what we say," Vera said.
Another local resident, Viktoria, walked along the street with a son in tow and another child in a stroller. She said locals are feeling powerless and afraid that fighting may intensify because neither of the sides would be able to protect their lives or houses.
She also says she want to flee but does not know where to go.
"Honestly, we are going to leave. But to be really honest, we have nowhere to go. We don't have any relatives anywhere. I don't even know what to do," Viktoria said.
The rebels set up their town headquarters in one of the buildings where they recuperate and tend to the injured.
"I took up arms because peaceful people get killed, women and children. I have been thinking a long time before I made this decision, but I have no way back now. Because if they keep bombing and killing peaceful people I will not hesitate to give my life in the fight against this regime," a rebel going by the name "Domovoy" said, adding that he comes from nearby Slaviansk.
The violence continued for the second day on Sunday across eastern Ukrainian regions despite the ceasefire. 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. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None