Several Ukranian border guards remain trapped in a building following the dawn assault by pro-Russian gunmen in the eastern city of Lugansk.
The roof of the border guards’ building was ripped off in several places, parts had been burned out and its walls were pockmarked by multiple explosions — evidence of the intensity of the fighting.
Nearby residential buildings also bore bullet holes and several cars had been burned out in a nearby car park.
Eyewitnesses described how hundreds of pro-Russian fighters had besieged the border guards’ camp.
“Until [Monday] night, [pro-Russian gunmen] took up positions around the buildings opposite the border guards, also climbing on roofs. They had heavy machine guns and rocket launchers,” said one resident who gave just his first name Sergei.
“They had snipers on the roofs and one of them was killed by the border guards. I saw him when he has evacuated. He had been shot in the head,” he said.
When residents ventured out of their homes the day after the battle, “some people gathered bags full of bullet cases around the buildings where the rebels had been,” he said.
After a quiet night in the city, the head of the self-proclaimed pro-Russian “Popular Republic of Lugansk”, Valeri Bolotov, delivered an ultimatum on Tuesday to the trapped soldiers, warning that “they will be wiped from the face of the earth” if they did not surrender.
One hour after the ultimatum deadline, the area around the border guards’ complex was calm, and the Ukranian flag still flew from their building. There was no sign of Pro-Russian fighters.
– A ghost town –
Lugansk, a city of 450,000 close to the Russian border and the centre of east Ukraine’s pro-Russian uprising, appeared to be turning into a virtual ghost town on Tuesday. A number of residents of high rise flats on the outskirts of the city seemed to have left their homes.
“There is no one left, apart from those who have nowhere else to go,” said Nikolai, accompanied by his 12-year-old son.
Recalling the battle, he said: “We said to ourselves: ‘This is going to be terrible and we had better go.’ We gathered our things and left in 10 minutes.
“We have come back now because things are calm. But nothing works. At the market there are no sellers. Everything is shut,” he said.
The position of the building housing the border guards appears to prohibit Ukranian forces from sending reinforcements.
A military spokesman in Kiev said authorities could only provide the guards with aerial support, as was the case on Monday.
It is hard to see how the border guards’ resistance can hold out for long under such conditions.
According to the self-proclaimed “Republic of Lugansk”, an airstrike Monday on a pro-Russian headquarters killed eight and wounded 13. Authorities in Kiev denied bombing the building and accused the pro-Russian rebels of causing the explosion.
Kiev admitted to carrying out some strikes in the region but said these targeted roadblocks manned by the rebels.