Ukraine claims pro-Russian rebels flushed out of main stronghold Slavyansk
Attack hailed as turning point in crisis, with Ukrainian flag hoisted over pro-Russian forces' base
Resurgent government forces yesterday hoisted the Ukrainian flag over pro-Russian rebels' main stronghold after a devastating shelling assault that levelled much of the city but delivered Kiev its biggest success of the campaign.
The self-proclaimed mayor of Slavyansk confirmed insurgents had abandoned the rust-belt city of 120,000. A local resident said barricades once manned by the camouflage-clad gunmen now stood abandoned.
Ukraine's ability to win back Slavyansk, home to one of the country's biggest weapons storage facilities, which fell to the insurgents on April 6, marks a key turning point in three months of low-scale warfare that has threatened the very survival of the ex-Soviet state.
Ukraine's interior minister, Arsen Avakov, said in a Facebook post the withdrawal was led by senior militia commander Igor Strelkov - alleged by Kiev to be a colonel in Russia's GRU military intelligence unit.
Both Strelkov and Moscow deny any GRU link despite Western claims that the Kremlin is covertly funding and arming the uprising to destabilise Kiev's new pro-European leaders and retain control over Russian-speaking eastern regions of Ukraine.