ALJAZEERA: The Ukrainian government’s attempt to wrest back control of occupied parts of the country’s east was met with defiance Wednesday as pro-Russian armed men appeared to seize army vehicles amid reports of defections to the rebel side.
On the eve of talks in Geneva on the plight of the former Soviet country, attempts to recapture state buildings in several towns without bloodshed were faltering.
A show of might by government troops in previously rebel-held Kramatorsk, during which armored personnel carriers flying the Ukrainian flag were driven through the town, were later undermined by a counter-display of force just miles away. In neighboring Slavyansk, several of the same vehicles — this time displaying Russian flags — rolled into the town, stopping outside the rebel-held town hall… (more)
