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On Saturday, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko ordered the army to raise the national flag over the separatist stronghold of Slaviansk, located in eastern Ukraine. Posting on his Facebook page, Poroshenko wrote the following:
“I gave an order to the Chief of the General Staff to raise the national flag in Slovyansk. The Chief of the General Staff Victor Muzhenko reported that last night militants from Slovyansk tried to break through the cordon and came under mortar fire from the Ukrainian Army. As a result 1 tank, 2 BMP and 2 BMD of terrorists were damaged. Reconnaissance of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the National Guard of Ukraine is working in Slovyansk at the moment. During the last hour and a half local residents are bringing weapons abandoned by militants to our servicemen. This is the real disarmament, which was the intention of my peace plan for stabilization of the situation in the east of the country,”
This followed reports that government forces had been in the city, the presidential web site said. It also follows Ukraine's official declaration of an end to the ceasefire earlier this week. Slaviansk, which rebel forces seized in April, has become the separatists' most formidable bastion in eastern Ukraine and is now where Donetsk People's Republic Defense Minister Igor Strelkov is based.
At present, there has been no response from Russia or the separatist leaders in response to Poroshenko's request for a new round of talks this weekend.
Recently, the European Union and the United States have threatened Russia with further sanctions if the Putin administration and its allies in eastern Ukraine do nothing to halt the violence in the region.
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