Ukrainian Troops Recapture Slovyansk as Pro-Russian Separatists Retreat
KIEV, UKRAINE (Worthy News)– After several days of intense battles, Ukrainian troops finally raised its country’s flag over the eastern city of Slovyansk — a key pro-Russian separatist stronghold, marking the end of the separatist’s rule over the city.
The recapture of Slovyansk marks a major step for the Kiev government, which has struggled for months to contain a separatist rebel movement that has captured government buildings and cities in the east. Slovyansk had been the site of some of the most intense fighting, and until Saturday, it had appeared to be one of the cities most firmly in rebel hands.
Ukrainian leaders were jubilant Saturday — President Petro Poroshenko ordered the hoisting of the blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flag above Slovyansk’s city hall, while Russian officials did not directly respond to rebels’ requests for aid. Russian President Vladimir Putin has promised to defend the interests of Russians wherever and whenever they come under attack, but he has left open the question of whether that extends to an outright invasion of eastern Ukraine. — Source