Upbeat Ukraine Claims Much of Separatist Region ‘Cleared’

May 31st, 2014

David Schulberg

Ukrainian acting DM Mykahailo Koval offered an unusually upbeat assessment of the ongoing military invasion of the eastern oblasts of Donetsk and Luhansk today, insisting the troops had “cleared” large portions of the region of separatists.

Koval’s report conspicuously covered the northernmost parts of Luhansk and the southwest of Donetsk, two places where the separatist movement was never particularly strong, while glossing over the large number of rebel fighters in Donetsk itself, as well as cities like Slovyansk and Kramatorsk.

He also claimed Russian forces were carrying out “special operations” against them in the east, and vowed to continue the invasion of the eastern regions “until there is peace.”

Donetsk and Luhansk have declared themselves autonomous “People’s Republics,” and fighters in the major cities continue to vow to resist the Ukrainian military. Repeated attacks on Slovyansk have failed to take the city.