One European observer freed, others still held in Ukraine
updated 2:14 PM EDT, Sun April 27, 2014
Detained observers from the
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe arrive to take part
in a press conference in the eastern Ukrainian city of Slavyansk on
Sunday, April 27.
HIDE CAPTION
Crisis in Ukraine
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: An ailing Swedish member of the OSCE team has been freed
- Self-declared mayor of Slavyansk stages media event with captured inspectors
- OSCE team leader says the inspectors are being held against their will
- Obama says Russia hasn't "lifted a finger" to defuse the crisis
At least seven of the inspectors from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
appeared at a news conference staged by the self-declared mayor of
Slavyansk, Vyacheslav Ponomarev, who referred to them as "prisoners of
war."
The freed observer was
from Sweden and had been suffering from diabetes, Ponomarev spokeswoman
Stella Khorosheva told CNN. And Michael Bociurkiw, an OSCE spokesman in
Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, called it "a welcome development."
Holger Schmuck, one of
the German members of the team, said earlier that their captors had
ensured the ailing observer had all the water and sugar he needed and
were taking particular care of him.
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The monitors were seized
Friday outside Slavyansk, one of the flashpoints in the standoff between
Ukraine's interim government and pro-Russian factions challenging its
authority in the east. They said that although they have diplomatic
status, they went along with Sunday's news conference because the mayor
asked them to.
"We are held here; I
cannot go home on my free decision ... and it is logical in the eyes of
the mayor, Ponomarev, that he can use us to present his positions,"
delegation leader Axel Schneider said.
Schneider said the team,
which includes eight Europeans and several Ukrainians, was being held in
the cellar of a building. He said the observers agreed to the news
conference so that their families could see them, and that the
conditions in which they are being held had significantly improved in
the past 24 hours.
The observers are always guarded by armed men, but they had not been threatened, he said.
Nevertheless, an air of
unease hung over the men, whose immediate fate remains uncertain. Talks
are under way between the separatists and a second OSCE team in
Slavyansk that was sent to seek their release, Khorosheva said.
Spy accusation
Ponomarev has accused
the monitors of being spies for NATO and said he might exchange them for
pro-Russian activists held by Kiev, but it is not clear if that would
be a basis for any negotiations. No evidence has been produced to
support any claim they strayed outside their mission.
One OSCE mission in
Ukraine is tasked with helping to implement an international agreement
signed April 17 in Switzerland, which called for illegal militia groups
to disarm and leave occupied buildings, among other provisions. However,
the abducted inspectors were working in the restive eastern Donetsk
province under the mandate of a previously agreed OSCE mission.
The interim government
in Kiev has said the OSCE inspectors are being held by terrorists.
Besides the Germans and the freed Swede, the other monitors are from
Denmark, Poland, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic, Russian state media
said.
Obama: Unite against Russia's actions
Many eastern Ukraine
residents have Russian roots and sympathize with Moscow. But Western
nations and Kiev have accused Russia of stirring up unrest in its
neighbor and supporting the armed separatists' revolt.
Earlier Sunday, U.S. President Barack Obama urged the world to unite in its disapproval of Russian actions in Ukraine.
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"Russia has not lifted a
finger to help -- in fact, there's strong evidence that they've been
encouraging the kinds of activities that have taken place," Obama said,
speaking from Malaysia, where he is on a diplomatic visit.
Rather than going with
sanctions alone and making it a United States versus Russia issue, "it's
important for us to make sure that we're part of an international
coalition in sending that message and Russia is isolated, rather than
(the perception that) the U.S. is trying to pull Ukraine out of his
orbit," he said.
G7 leaders have said
they will impose additional sanctions on Russia over its role in the
crisis. Specific EU and U.S. measures are expected to be announced in
the coming days.
Russia's Foreign
Ministry insisted Saturday it was taking all possible measures to
resolve the situation over the abducted OSCE team. In a statement, it
added that the security of the observers is the responsibility of the
hosting country.
Friction point
The perilous face-off
intensified Saturday when Russian state news complained that Ukraine had
mobilized 15,000 troops in the suburbs of Slavyansk "in order to wipe
out the city and its residents."
Quoting a Russian
Defense Ministry source, RIA Novosti said satellite photos showed the
force forming around the city that has become a friction point between
the Ukraine military and pro-Russian militants. The Defense Ministry
source said the number of Ukrainian troops put the pro-Russian militants
at a disadvantage because the latter are "armed only with small amount
of pistols and shotguns."
The source said the
photos showed about 160 tanks, 230 infantry combat vehicles and armored
personnel carriers, mine throwers and multiple-launch rocket systems.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly criticized what he says is Kiev's use of force against Ukrainian civilians.
Developments in Ukraine have come at a rapid pace in recent days:
-- On Sunday, separatist
leader Denis Pushilin told CNN that a regional TV station in Donetsk
had been seized. "The people have gone there. They want to watch Russian
channels and are tired of the Ukrainian TV lies," he said.
-- Militants in the town
of Gorlivka have captured Ukrainian Security Service officers who were
seeking to arrest a Russian citizen suspected of murdering a pro-Kiev
lawmaker, the security service said Sunday.
-- Russian military
aircraft "crossed and violated" Ukrainian airspace seven times,
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk told reporters in Rome on
Saturday. The Russian Defense Ministry denied the accusation, according
to the state news agency ITAR-Tass.
-- Yatsenyuk met with
Pope Francis while in Rome on Saturday. The meeting has been seen as a
sign of support from the Vatican for his government.
-- Russia, which already
had 40,000 troops on its side of the border, started new military
drills Thursday after Ukrainian forces said they killed five pro-Russian
militants. A day later, Ukraine launched the second stage of an
"anti-terrorist operation" against militants in Slavyansk.
Speaking Saturday,
Yatsenyuk urged Russia to pull back its security forces and not to
support pro-Russian militants in eastern and southern Ukraine. "We urge
Russia to leave us alone," he said in televised remarks.
Ukraine's government has
promised constitutional reforms and protections for Russian speakers in
a bid to ease the tensions in its eastern regions.
CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reported from
Slavyansk; Gul Tuysuz reported from Kiev, and Laura Smith-Spark wrote
and reported from London. CNN's Ralph Ellis, Andrew
Carey, Alex Felton, Bharati Naik, Ben Brumfield and Boriana Milanova
contributed to this report, as did journalist Victoria Butenko in Kiev.
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