Eastern cities Artemivsk, Mariupol latest targets in Ukraine anti-terror operation (VIDEO)

Ukrainian forces repelled
the 2 a.m. attack by a group of some 70 to 100 rebels who were armed with
automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, the country’s Ministry
of Defense and Interior
Minister Arsen Avakov reported. Hand grenades were used by the rebels in
the assault, the Defense Ministry said.

Avakov said the group
was led by a man with “an extensive beard,” hinting at pro-Russian separatist Alexander
Mozhaev, who has been seen colluding with insurgents in the nearby city of
Sloviansk. There, separatists have seized the city’s security services and
administration buildings and taken several journalists hostage.

Acting President
Oleksandr Turchynov said in a statement that the attackers in Artemivsk sustained a “heavy”
but unspecified number of casualties during the failed assault on the military
installation on Chaikovskoho Street. Meanwhile, a
Ukrainian soldier was “lightly wounded.”

Artemivsk
journalist Natasha Zhukova told the Kyiv Post that the normally sleepy city was on alert
Thursday morning following the attempted rebel raid, with all secondary schools
closed and public transport temporarily shut down.

“People
are a bit excited here,” she said. “But they are going to work as usual. It’s a
nice, sunny day.”

Several
Artemivsk residents posted video footage on Thursday of what are believed to be
Ukrainian military helicopters buzzing over the city just after dawn.

In this video posted to YouTube by photographer Aleksey Zayets, a Ukrainian military helicopter circles above the city of Artemivsk around 5 a.m. on April 24.

YouTube user Yuriy Kozhukhovskiy on April 24 published the above video, which purports to show a Ukrainian military helicopter over Artemivsk around 5 a.m.

Artemivsk,
known in more peaceful times for its sparkling
wine factory and nearby Soledar salt mines, also houses one of Ukraine’s
largest weapons depots.

In recent
weeks, pro-Russian separatists have picketed the base and depot, holding signs
adorned with slogans such as “Donbass is for peace” to keep Ukrainian soldiers
from leaving the compounds with weaponry.

Several
separatist rallies have also been held at the city’s Lenin Square and in front
of its administration building, according to Zhukova. Separatists there have not shown the
aggression of those in neighboring Sloviansk, Kramatorsk and Gorlovka, where
key government buildings were violently seized and the flag of the Donetsk
Republic was raised.

Instead,
she said, the group has struck a deal with the city’s mayor to abstain from storming
the building in exchange for him allowing the Donetsk Republic flag to fly
above city hall.

Separately, Ukrainian Interior Troops in the southeastern city of Mariupol took back
the city council building from Kremlin-backed militants this morning, reported Novosti Donbass.

The pro-Russian separatists had illegally occupied the local legislature
since April 13. Five were reported injured as a result of the operation, all separatists.

Overnight on April 17, three armed, masked separatists were killed when
they shot on and attacked a Ukrainian military base in Mariupol. Thirteen
additional militants were wounded as well. The Interior Ministry said that
after the assault was repelled, a task force arrested 67 of the attackers.

Weapons were seized from them as well as Russian mobile phone communication
devices.

In its statement on Thursday following the attempted storming of the
Artemivsk military base, the Defense Ministry urged citizens not to partake in separatist
activities.

“Leadership of the Defense Ministry
and the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine once again strongly urges
people not to get involved in provocative and illegal actions to support the
activities of armed separatists in the eastern regions of Ukraine,” it said,
adding that it reserved the right to use weapons against those who do partake in such actions.

Ukraine on April 22 announced the resumption of an anti-terror operation put on hold last week to purge pro-Russian separatists from the eastern Donetsk Oblast.

“The
leadership of the Defense Ministry considers it necessary to recall that during
the execution of tasks under the anti-terrorist operations, military personnel
are entitled to use weapons in cases provided by law and the statutes of the
Armed Forces of Ukraine,” the Defense Ministry said.

Kyiv Post editor Christopher J. Miller can be reached at miller@kyivpost.com, and on Twitter at @ChristopherJM. Kyiv Post editor Mark Rachkevych contributed reporting.