Ukraine tycoon pleads for city's safety after rebels vow to make stand

          
Ukraine's richest man pleaded with the government on Monday not to bomb Donetsk, a city of a million people where hundreds of heavily armed pro-Russian rebels have vowed to make a stand after losing control of their bastion in the town of Slaviansk.                 

The Kiev government has said it will act quickly to seize back more territory from rebels after re-taking Slaviansk in what President Petro Poroshenko called a turning point in the three-month conflict against pro-Russian fighters in the east.                

Rebels retreating from Slaviansk, some driving armored vehicles flying Russian flags, poured into Donetsk, 110 km (65 miles) to the north over the weekend. About 1,000 of them held a bellicose rally in the central square on Sunday.            

Their commander, a Muscovite using the name Igor Strelkov, was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying his men would fight for the city, which was "much easier to defend than little Slaviansk".             

Businesses have closed down and thousands of residents are believed to have fled Donetsk.           

The city is the headquarters for Rinat Akhmetov, Ukraine's wealthiest man by far, whose fortune, founded on coal and steel, is put at more than $11 billion by Forbes. He said government forces should show restraint in Donetsk and the surrounding Donbass region.               

"Donetsk must not be bombed. Donbass must not be bombed. Cities, towns and infrastructure must not be destroyed," he told Ukraina television. "We must avoid suffering and deaths of peaceful people."             

The government said it had carried out an air strike against rebel fighters who had attacked the airport in Luhansk, another eastern city, on Sunday. It accused separatists in the area of opening fire in populated areas under the guise of being government forces.          

"They use flags of military paratroopers, Ukrainian state flags and thus fool the population," military spokesman Oleksiy Dmytrashkivsky said on Monday.              

The Defense Ministry said early on Monday separatists had launched 10 attacks on government posts and army positions in the previous 24 hours with mortars and small arms. It gave no details of the incidents or casualties, but said troops had returned fire: "The terrorists were given a fitting reply."          More than 200 Ukrainian troops have been killed as well as hundreds of civilians and rebels in the conflict.     


Economy:    

Russia's Gazprom said on Monday Russian gas flows to Europe via Ukraine remained stable.       

Gazprom cut gas supplies to Kiev on June 16 after Ukraine failed to pay off at least part of its gas debts. Europe gets around a third of its gas needs from Russia.       


REUTERS