DONETSK: Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine have suffered dramatic setbacks after top military chiefs quit and Kiev´s forces pummelled their strongholds, cutting off a key rebel-held city from the Russian border.
Kiev´s advance came as the Russian “humanitarian” convoy parked up close to the frontier, with doubts still swirling over what the trucks contained and whether they would be allowed to cross.
The separatist leadership has showed signs of unravelling following four months of fighting that have left more than 2,000 dead and many residents in the region without power or running water, and with dwindling food supplies.
The rebels said their main military chief, Igor Strelkov, had resigned while the rebel commander in the second-biggest insurgent stronghold of Lugansk, Valery Bolotov, told Russian television he was “temporarily” stepping down because of earlier injuries.
The announcements came after Ukraine´s military said it had completely surrounded Lugansk, cutting all links to the border with Russia, which Kiev believes has been supplying the insurgents with weapons. Intense shelling on Lugansk and the main insurgent bastion of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine left more than 25 people dead, while Ukrainian forces reported nine troops dead and 18 injured over the past day.
