Ukrainian forces pull back from key airport as Kiev slams Russian ‘aggression’
Poroshenko accuses Putin of ‘direct and open aggression’ as concerns grows over fate of hundreds of Ukrainian troops encircled by pro-Russian forces near Ilovaysk
Ukraine’s military said on Monday it had pulled its forces back from defending a vital airport in the east against Russian tanks, as President Petro Poroshenko accused Moscow of “direct and open aggression”.
The withdrawal from the civilian airport outside the city of Luhansk was the latest in a string of reverses for Ukrainian forces fighting pro-Russian separatists who Kiev says have the direct support of hundreds of Russian troops and armour.
A military statement said Ukrainian paratroopers were engaging a Russian tank battalion near the airport. A while later spokesman Andriy Lysenko said: “In the Luhansk direction, Ukrainian forces have received an order and have pulled back from the airport.”
Poroshenko, speaking at a military academy in Kiev, said Russia’s direct involvement in Kiev’s war against the separatists in eastern Ukraine had tipped the balance on the battlefield and was the main reason for recent setbacks.
“Direct and open aggression has been launched against Ukraine from a neighbouring state. This has changed the situation in the zone of conflict in a radical way,” he said.