DONETSK, Ukraine (AP) — To shouts of "Fascists!" and "Hang them from a tree!" captured Ukrainian soldiers were paraded through the streets of the rebel stronghold of Donetsk on Sunday as bystanders pelted them with eggs, water bottles and tomatoes. The spectacle of the bruised and filthy soldiers being marched hands bound and surrounded by gun-toting pro-Russian insurgents came as Ukrainians in Kiev celebrated their country's independence from the Soviet Union — a stark display of the growing divisions between east and west.
While support and mobilization for Kiev's campaign against the separatists has grown in many parts of the country, resentments fester in much of the east, where civilian casualties and shelling have become a part of daily life. Illustrating the divisions, an ostentatious procession of tanks and weaponry rumbled through downtown Kiev to mark Ukraine's 23rd anniversary of independence from Moscow — a highly publicized event accompanied by speeches and a vow by President Petro Poroshenko to boost defense spending to defeat the rebels.
In Donetsk, thousands gathered in the main square as the insurgents staged their own spectacle mocking the national army. To jeers and catcalls, dozens of captive soldiers, some wearing tattered Ukrainian military uniforms and some in torn and dirty civilian clothing, were forced to march past as nationalistic Russian songs blared from loudspeakers. They were flanked by rebels pointing bayoneted rifles. One visibly agitated man yelled slurs as he held an infant in one arm. "Hang the fascists from a tree!" one woman shouted as other women rushed at the prisoners, trying to kick and slap them. Two water trucks followed the captives, hosing down the road in a move apparently meant to cleanse the pavement where the Ukrainian soldiers had passed.
The image had historical parallels as well: In 1944, Red Army soldiers paraded tens of thousands of German prisoners of war through the streets of Moscow. The top rebel commander sent a mocking message to the Ukrainian government. "Kiev said that on the 24th, on the Independence Day of Ukraine, they would have a parade. Indeed, they did march in Donetsk, although it wasn't a parade," top rebel commander Alexander Zakharchenko said. "Soldiers of the armed forces of Kiev walked along the main streets of Donetsk. What Poroshenko planned has taken place." Several fire-blackened, shrapnel-shredded Ukrainian military vehicles were put on display in Donetsk's main square, where supporters posed for photos in front of one of the destroyed tanks.
One onlooker grabbed a Ukrainian flag from the wreckage of one tank and threw it to the ground. Several others trampled on it, wiping their feet and spitting. "Today is the so-called independence day of what was Ukraine. And look what has happened to their equipment. This is what has become of Ukraine!" shouted a pro-Russian rebel fighter who identified herself by her battle name, Nursa, pointing at the remains of a Ukrainian troop transport. Alexander, a 40-year-old businessman from Donetsk who declined to give his surname, said the Ukrainian flag had no place in the city. "I feel this is no place for this flag. The great achievement here is that people can see it in the state that it deserves to be in," he said.
Resentment has grown in the east as residential areas have increasingly come under fire in recent weeks, with the civilian death toll rising to at least 2,000 since April, according to United Nations figures. In Donetsk, an estimated 300,000 of the city's population of 1 million have fled the fighting, and many of those who remain have gone weeks without electricity or running water and spent days hunkered down in bomb shelters.
http://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2014/08/24/ukraine-plans-3-billion-boost-to-defense-spending
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