Ukraine's rebels see new president's hand in airport carnage

The truck was still emblazoned with the name of a former owner, a haulage firm from a village in southwest England, but now it stood under a fierce sun outside the morgue of the Kalinin hospital in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine.

Crimson stars stained the road leading to the building, where blood had seeped from the lorry as it drew to a halt. Behind it lay a suggestion of its cargo: packets of cigarettes, lighters, camouflage rucksacks and other kit, along with stained German army surplus bandages and latex medical gloves.

“This truck brought 28 bodies and we could fill another two like this. Up to 100 of our men were killed and hundreds injured at the airport. We’ve got no room for them here,” said Leonid Baranov, a slight young man with a pistol tucked into his black bulletproof vest, his chest bare underneath on a hot and humid morning.

On Monday, Ukrainian government forces had attacked separatist rebels occupying Donetsk’s Sergei Prokofiev airport, strafing them from fighter jets and attack helicopters. Then paratroopers engaged the insurgents in running gun battles that spilled into residential districts near the airfield.

“These men were injured and were being evacuated from the battlefield, when their truck was attacked by a Ukrainian army helicopter,” said Baranov.

“Kiev calls us terrorists, but these men were hurt and weren’t carrying serious weapons when they were attacked. They were defending their homeland. We hear a lot about democracy – well, here’s what these so-called democrats do.”

It was no cooler inside the morgue and a cloying sweetness filled the air. Bodies covered every table and stretcher and, on a low bench near the door, one man lay on top of another, a blue-and-white blanket placed between them. Whoever carried the men in had quickly run out of space, and then simply piled them up in the corridor. About 20 camouflage-clad corpses lay like that, in a heap of dark limbs and pale faces, as Baranov spoke again.

“So now Ukraine has a new president. Well, I guess this is his greeting to these men’s relatives.”

'Anti-terrorist' crackdown Chocolate billionaire Petro Poroshenko, who won a landslide presidential election victory on Sunday, has rejected the possibility of talks with gunmen in the east and demanded greater speed and efficiency in Kiev's "anti-terrorist" crackdown.

Monday’s operation marked a break with weeks of halting and often hapless attempts to combat the insurgents, and the government yesterday said its forces controlled the airport – a claim disputed by pro-Russian rebels whom Kiev believes are aided by Russia.

“The men killed were all local, there were no Russians among them,” said Baranov, ringed by fellow rebels carrying automatic rifles. “And I haven’t seen any Chechens.”

Many people in Donetsk are sure they have, however, and some heavily armed fighters have already told reporters that they are from the Russian republic in the Caucasus.

Airport fighting The mayor of Donetsk, Alexander Lukyanchenko, announced yesterday that at least 40 people had been killed in the airport fighting, and 43 injured.

The wounded included residents of Moscow, he said, and of the Chechen capital, Grozny, and the city of Gudermes, hometown of the warlord who rules the region with Kremlin approval, Ramzan Kadyrov.

Kadyrov denies sending his feared fighters to Ukraine, but evidence of a Chechen presence in Donetsk is mounting; gunmen who looked far more like Chechens than locals were seen leaving the Kalinin hospital in the company of a senior figure in the separatist’s self-declared “Donetsk People’s Republic”.

Ukrainian border guards said yesterday that trucks carrying men and weapons had forced their way across the border from Russia; the Kremlin denies meddling in its neighbour’s affairs, however, while predicting civil war there.

Lack of volunteers The rebels' Muscovite military leader, Igor Strelkov, has lamented a lack of local volunteers to his ranks, and Ukrainian analysts believe Chechens may serve as his badly needed, and battle-hardened, reinforcements.

It is not clear how locals will view their arrival, but Kiev’s crackdown risks further alienating eastern regions that have far stronger ties to Russia than the West.

“We came especially after hearing about the fighting,” said Artyom (25), standing with his girlfriend outside a blood donation centre in Donetsk.

“It’s how we can help those who are defending their land.”

But the blood bank turned them away. A surge of volunteers had already filled its stores to capacity. “Never mind,” said Artyom. “We’ll come back tomorrow.”