Ukraine troops seize airfield from pro-Russia forces

DONETSK, Ukraine — Ukraine launched a military operation against pro-Russia separatists Tuesday in a region close to the Russian border despite warnings from Moscow to leave the insurgents alone.

"It will be conducted step by step, responsibly, cautiously," Ukraine President Oleksandr Turchynov told the country's parliament shortly before the operation began.

"The aim of these actions is to protect the citizens of Ukraine, to stop terror, to stop criminality, to stop attempts to tear Ukraine to pieces," he said.

Russia was lashed by the United Nations and the West for escalating the crisis by publicly encouraging the separatists and threatening to invade under the false pretext that ethnic Russians were in danger.

The first apparent action of the Ukraine offensive was the retaking of a small airfield near the town Kramatorsk, in the eastern Ukraine region of Donetsk. Russian state television reported that as many as 11 people had been killed; Ukraine said there were no deaths.

Kramatorsk is about 100 miles from the Russian border, where thousands of Russian military troops, tank columns and fighter jets are based. Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned Ukraine that he may intercede to protect ethnic Russians, though it is ethnic Russians who have been the ones forcing their way into government buildings.

Russia warned Kiev against using force against the pro-Russia protesters and denied charges from Ukraine that the unrest is being whipped up by paid operatives and special forces from Russia.

"This is a total lie that supposes that those residents there are completely incapable of protesting of their own will,'' Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Tuesday after talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Lavrov said Moscow may walk out of an international conference on the Ukraine to be held Thursday in Geneva. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon spoke with Putin by phone and urged him to de-escalate" his actions, Ban's press office said.

"The secretary-general ... underlined that any deepening of the crisis would be profoundly detrimental for all concerned,'' Ban's office said.

The Kremlin said Putin told Ban that "The Russian side expects a clear condemnation from the United Nations and the international community of these anti-constitutional actions." British Foreign Secretary William Hague said that it's Russia that is to be condemned.

"In recent days Russia has deliberately pushed Ukraine to the brink, and created a still greater risk of violent confrontation." The White House appeared to back the Ukrainian military action.

"The Ukrainian government has the responsibility to provide law and order and these provocations in eastern Ukraine are creating a situation in which the government has to respond,'' White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

He said the United States is "seriously considering'' new sanctions against Russia to stop it from giving legitimacy to the takeovers of Ukraine buildings by pro-Russia Ukrainians.

The pro-Russia occupiers are demanding that a referendum be held to secede and join Russia, and they are urging Russian forces to invade as they did in Crimea. The Ukraine province of Crimea has been overtaken militarily by Putin, who annexed it into Russia despite warnings from President Obama of "repercussions" if he did so.

Roads into Slovyansk, a city west of Russia, were dotted with checkpoints maned by pro-Russia men. One at the entrance into town was waving a Russian flag.

Numerous news media reports of armored personnel carriers with Ukrainian flags parked alongside roads in Donetsk. Other heavy military equipment appeared nearby, along with at least seven busloads of government troops in black military fatigues.

"We are awaiting the order to move on Sloyvansk," said one soldier, who gave only his first name, Taras.

President Turchynov said those who do not surrender will be arrested. "I'm convinced that there will not be any terrorists left soon in Donetsk and other regions and they will find themselves in the dock — this is where they belong," he said.

Turchynov accused Russia of fueling the unrest in eastern Ukraine by infiltrating the country with Russian special forces who are aiding separatists. Russian speaking masked men, well-armed and in matching uniforms bearing no insignias, have been seen helping the occupiers build barricades to keep Ukraine troops from forcing them out.

Ukraine's government has hinted that it is willing to consider granting more autonomy to regions in the east but not independence. Close to half of the people in the east are ethnic Russians.

But independent polls, one conducted by Gallup last month, show a majority of people in the east and south do not want to become part of Russia. A majority of Crimeans responded the same way.

"I'm not happy because of these events," said Vladimir Ivaschenko in Donetsk. "I'd like to live in a normal Ukraine and without any influence from Russia or from west side.

"It seems like Russian tanks are going to enter Ukraine. Separatists already called for Russian help," he said.

Others feel the central government in Kiev has not heeded the wishes of populations in the east and is to blame for the unrest.

"I am worried with our central power and I am worried about a new split between Ukrainians," said Olga Chuvaeva, also from Donetsk. "Western Ukraine always hated Russia. They don't hear us. Here, in Donetsk, we never hated western Ukraine."

Facing economic stress, Ukraine's central bank increased its benchmark interest rate from 7% to 14.5% to prevent massive inflation due to the record lows of its currency.

Russia's state-owned gas industry has threatened to cut off supplies to Ukraine, prompting German utility company RWE AG on Tuesday to start supplying gas to Ukraine via Poland.

Contributing: Doug Stanglin in McLean, Va., Luigi Serenelli in Berlin, Associated Press