In wake of Ukraine elections, Ukrainian air force launches strike on rebel-held airport

By End the Lie
[May 26, 2014]

Petro Poroshenko at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2014 (Image credit: WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM/swiss-image.ch/Photo Andy Mettler/Flickr)

While the new president-elect of Ukraine promised on Monday to bring an end to the pro-Russia separatist movement in eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian air force launched strikes on a rebel-held airport in Donetsk.

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Petro Poroshenko, the new president, said he is willing to begin talks with Moscow and wants to negotiate an end to the insurgency, according to the Associated Press. Yet he also said he rejected negotiations with “bandits,” referring to the insurgents in the east.

The offer for talks was quickly welcomed by Russian officials, who have said they are ready to hold direct talks with the new president.

Still, he described the separatists as “Somali pirates” and the Ukrainian military launched attacks from fighter jets and military helicopters against the rebels in the airport in Donetsk.

Many flights to and from the airport were canceled or delayed and access was blocked by police, according to AP. Sustained artillery and gun fire was heard as dense black smoke rose from the airport and jets and helicopters flew overhead.

Paratroopers were also involved in the attack, according to Reuters.

The airstrike was launched by the military after they gave the separatists an ultimatum to lay down their weapons, which they ignored, according to Vladislav Seleznyov, a spokesman for Kiev’s anti-terrorist operation.

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