bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Ukrainian soldiers and pro-Russian rebels fought fierce battles yesterday around a flashpoint town, with only a small reprieve to allow passage of a freed team of OSCE inspectors.
More than 50 people have died in two days of clashes nationwide - most of them in a horrific inferno amid street clashes in the southern city of Odessa.

In the east, the military stepped up its assault on rebels in the flashpoint town of Slavyansk yesterday.
The bloodshed was plunging the international crisis over the ex-Soviet republic into dangerous new territory.
Russia said it would now be "absurd" for the country - whose Crimea peninsula it annexed in March - to hold a planned May 25 presidential election.
That opened the risk of sweeping US sanctions designed to target whole sectors of the Russian economy after President Barack Obama warned of punishment if perceived Moscow meddling scuppered the poll.
US Secretary of State John Kerry underlined that threat in a call to his Russian counterpart, saying: "If those supported by Russia continue to interfere with the election, regrettably there will have to be different sanctions including the possibility or the reality of sectoral sanctions."
In his call to Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Kerry urged Moscow to do more and "withdraw support for the separatists."
The Russian foreign minister responded by calling on "the United States to use all of its influence to force the Kiev regime ... to immediately halt military operations".

On the ground, however, there was no sign of combat subsiding.
At least nine people have died in clashes around Slavyansk. On Friday, the military tightened its noose on the area but lost two helicopter gunships to shoulder-launched missiles.
The OSCE inspectors, who had been detained in Slavyansk for over a week, were freed shortly after a Kremlin envoy arrived in east Ukraine to speak with the rebels holding them.
"It is happiness, a deep relief" to be free, their leader, German Colonel Axel Schneider, told a small group of journalists just after leaving the town.



OSCE confirms its observers held by pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine have been released

Foreign observer Colonel Axel Schneider (left) was freed. Photo: AP

The head of the OSCE foreign military observers, German Colonel Axel Schneider, gets out a car after he was feed in Slovyansk. Photo: Associated Press

Vyacheslav Ponomarev, the self-proclaimed mayor of Slovyansk, said the OSCE observers were released for security reasons. Photo: AP

Police stand guard in front of the burned Trade Union building in Odessa late on Friday. Photo: AFP

Fierce battles in Ukraine; OSCE team freed 

A Pro-Russian activist sits in front of policemen guarding the burned trade union building in Odessa where dozens were killed after deadly street clashes earlier. Photo: AFP

Pro-Russian activists attack policemen. Photo: AFP

People wait to be rescued on a ledge during a fire at the trade union building in Odessa. Dozens choked or fell to their deaths. Photos: Reuters, AP

A pro-Russian activist during a clash in the streets of Odessa.

US condemns ‘unacceptable’ violence in southern Ukraine

At least 42 people were killed in a fire during clashes between pro-Ukrainian and pro-Russian protesters at the Trade Union building in Odessa. Photo: EPA

Pro-Ukrainian supporters gather outside the burnt trade union building in Odessa. Photo: AP

People carry a scaffolding frame through fires on the ground in Odessa. Photo: AP

News

World

Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe confirms its observers held in Slavyansk have been released


Update | OSCE confirms its observers held by pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine have been released

Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe confirms its observers held in Slavyansk have been released