Ukraine crisis: Poroshenko orders troops to key cities

Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko has ordered army reinforcements to key southern and eastern cities in case of a new rebel offensive.Mr Poroshenko said the units were to protect Mariupol, Berdyansk, Kharkiv and the north of Luhansk region.He spoke after meeting security chiefs in the wake of disputed polls in rebel-held areas of Donetsk and Luhansk.He said he was still committed to the current peace process but has proposed cancelling a key plank of the plan.The peace process was laid out in a 5 September ceasefire deal agreed in Minsk, Belarus.Angered by the elections, Mr Poroshenko has proposed scrapping a law that gives special status to Donetsk and Luhansk.Both regions staged swearing-in ceremonies for their pro-Russian leaders on Tuesday, following the elections there on Sunday.Alexander Zakharchenko was inaugurated president of the Donetsk People's Republic while Igor Plotnitsky was sworn in as president of the Luhansk People's Republic.The polls were held against the background of a conflict that has killed more than 4,000 people in eastern Ukraine since April.Ukraine accuses Russia of arming the rebels and sending Russian regular troops across the border - a claim denied by Moscow.Both the government and rebel sides have repeatedly violated the ceasefire.Fragile and wobbly as it may be, the ceasefire between Ukrainian government troops and Russian-backed militants has not completely broken down. And that's the most important thing at the moment.The Minsk peace plan was Mr Poroshenko's attempt to buy himself some breathing space, and it still seems he is wedded to it. But the domestic pressure on President Poroshenko to take decisive action against the creation of a de facto independent rebel "statelet" is growing.And fears are growing that the insurgents, with Russian assistance, may themselves soon launch a major offensive. Sending more troops to eastern Ukraine may be a desperate show of strength - an attempt to appear to be doing something amid a worsening situation. Or it could be a credible reaction to a real, Russian-backed threat.(BBC)Bakudaily.Az