"There Is A War On Our Territory"

"The bloody pictures from Odessa have shown us that we are just a few steps away from a military confrontation."
"Checkpoints and roadblocks were erected in these regions, which are operated by irregular armed forces. In the light of recent developments, it must be assumed that the media will run special risk of being detained or arrested by separatist forces."
"[The situation has escalated in a manner] that a short time ago we would not have considered possible."
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier

A pro-Russia militant guards a barricade outside Kramatorsk city hall, eastern Ukraine. Photograph: Genya Savilov/AFP/Getty Images

"There is a war against us on our territory. We can't do much as there are civilians all around. If somebody supports us, or doesn't support us, or is for the Russian language, or is against, it's not important: the Ukrainian army can't shoot at the civilian population."
"The enemy is hiding behind them and shooting from behind their backs."
Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov

Mr. Avakov states that Chechen fighters have infiltrated into Slavyansk in support of the pro-Russian insurgency. The Ukrainian military continues its operations against pro-Russian insurgents mostly in Slavyansk, a town of 120,000 appearing in the control of about 800 pro-Russian rebels. Four Ukrainian soldiers were killed there on Monday, while an Mi-24 helicopter was shot down. Mr. Avakov stated that at least 30 insurgents had been killed.

"Many days they cannot go out now because of security concerns and this has been very frustrating for them. They have been having trouble moving around because of a proliferation of checkpoints within a triangle that includes Donetsk and Slavyansk. Access is important to be able to see who is doing what and what weapons they have."
"It is very important that people understand this and our objectives, but it has been hard to get through all the noise and the breaking news."
"We look every day to establish trends through day-to-day gumshoe work on such things as allegations of human rights abuses to the number of buildings that have been occupied and checkpoints established. What we have been reporting daily lately is a worsening situation, or more escalation. We can measure this by the numbers of flash reports that we send out. They are more frequent."
Organization for Security & Cooperation in Europe Ukraine spokesman, Michael Bociurkiw

Three army officers from the Directorate of Arms Control Verification in Ottawa, Canada, working with the OSCE are in Ukraine along with another six members from Moldova, France and the United States. "Obviously we need to consider the security situation and operate closely with our Ukrainian colleagues and Ukrainian forces in determining where we operate every day", explained Lieutenant-Colonel Gary Hardwick.

They have been tasked by the OSCE (whose 57 member countries include Russia) with surveying a vast territory in Ukraine where many Ukrainians believe (on the evidence available) that Russia intends to occupy and establish total control from Crimea to a Russian-speaking enclave in Moldova. "Typically we are focused on inspections of military units looking for very specific things; this mission is wider in scope", said Lt.-Col. Hardwick.

Their focus is to spot unusual military activities like troop mobilization especially close to borders, and to make certain there is a continuous international military presence in such trouble-spots. Within Ukraine they act on their own, receiving no direction from Ukraine, while the host nation remains responsible for their security. The previous German group that had been taken prisoner in Slovyansk has returned home.

There are 150 civilian monitors representing twenty countries, part of an entirely different OSCE mission in the country whose numbers are set to double in the next few weeks to roughly 500 throughout the summer. Few Ukrainians know what the OSCE is or what the group represents, and how it operates (by consensus).

"It is hard to get into a lot of what we do. We get out there on the ground to observe and report it up. We've met with the regional government and all security forces and have visited local army units, police, border guards and naval installations", explained Lt.-Col. Hardwick.

President Vladimir V. Putin pictured at the Kremlin on Wednesday. “Open, honest and equal dialogue is the only possible option,” he said of the situation in Ukraine. Credit Pool photo by Sergei Karpukhin

Meanwhile, President Vladimir Putin, obviously innocent of all the vile and villainous actions being attributed to him as a dictatorial expansionist anxious to return Russia to its days of glory, has announced he has ordered a troop pull-back from the border next to Ukraine where 40,000 Russian soldiers and their military equipment have been camped out for a month. For practise purposes; intimidation clearly has nothing to do with the issue. He merely defused the tension.

According to Kirill Rogov, an economic analyst and political commentator, "He really promised nothing. He demonstrated that he controls the level of tension in Ukraine. He can return the situation to the high levels of violence at any moment. He did not refuse the referendum, but only proposed delaying it."