Putin vows response

Ukrainian special forces take position before an assault on separatists in the eastern Ukrainian city of Slavyansk yesterday. Ukraine's military launched an assault on the flashpoint rebel-held town, sending in armoured vehicles and a helicopter, AFP journalists in the town reported. Photo: AFP

Ukraine's military launched assaults to retake rebel-held eastern towns yesterday in which up to five people were reported killed, a move Russian President Vladimir Putin warned would have "consequences".
The offensive sent international tensions soaring and oil prices up on the prospect of Russia making good on its threat of a massive response in the ex-Soviet republic.
In Slavyansk, a flashpoint eastern Ukrainian town held by rebels since mid-April, armoured military vehicles drove past an abandoned roadblock in flames to take up position. Shots were heard as a helicopter flew overhead, and the pro-Kremlin rebels ordered all civilians out of the town hall to take up defensive positions inside.
"During the clashes, up to five terrorists were eliminated," and three checkpoints destroyed, the interior ministry said in a statement.
Hours later, the armoured vehicles withdrew, leaving the town calm but tense.
The rebels, which the Kiev government and its Western backers believe are controlled and supported by Moscow, have been occupying around 10 towns in Ukraine's east since mid-April.
It was the worst violence to erupt in Ukraine since the signing the Geneva accord a week ago. A brief truce collapsed over the weekend, prompting Ukraine's acting President Oleksandr Turchynov to order a resumption of an "anti-terrorist" offensive to flush the militants out.
Putin called the armed offensive a crime.

"If Kiev has really begun to use the army against the country's population... that is a very serious crime against its own people," he said.
He warned of "consequences, including for our intergovernmental relations".
Russia, which has an estimated 40,000 troops massed on Ukraine's border, has already threatened to respond as it did when it invaded Georgia in 2008 if it sees its interests in Ukraine attacked.
Shortly after Putin spoke, Russia's defence ministry announced new military "exercises" near the border in response to the Ukrainian military operations.
US President Barack Obama yesterday accused Russia of not abiding by the Geneva deal and warned more sanctions could be imposed on Moscow within days.