Ukrainian airborne troops have retaken an airport country's rebellious east, in the first sign that a promised 'anti-terror operation' had begun against pro-Russian separatists.
Heavy gunfire was heard at Kramatorsk airport, as Ukraine's interim president announced that his forces had retaken the site from militants who been seizing control of cities since last week.
Local media reported between four to 11 deaths in the attack, but there was no immediate confirmation of any casualties.
The attack on the small airport began with an airborne assault by the Omega unit of the Ukrainian paramilitary police, according to Sky News. They were quickly joined by a ground assault involving as many as 500 soldiers loyal to Kiev, Sky's correspondent said.
The town of Kramatorsk is one of 10 localities in Ukraine's Russian-speaking east where separatist rebellions have broken out and the move suggested Ukraine's authorities were going ahead with a plan for a broad military crackdown to end the unrest which began 10 days ago.
The state security service announced a similar operation had got underway in the nearby town of Slaviansk, where militants are occupying official buildings and are believed to have seized weapons from police armouries.
In Slaviansk a Reuters correspondent said in the past hour that there was no sign of any forces loyal to Kiev, and no evidence of fighting.
The troops disembarked in Kramatorsk from two military helicopters after an air force plane made what appeared to be an unsuccessful attempt to land at the airfield where separatists had set up barricades at the entrance.
A Reuters correspondent heard several shots fired from inside the base as a crowd of separatist sympathisers moved towards the gates, but these appeared to be warning shots.
A Ukrainian general, Gennady Krutov, who identified himself as the commander of the anti-terrorist operation, told the crowd: 'We have information that there is shooting going on in here. I came here to clarify that.
'There is an anti-terrorist operation going on in here. I am here to protect you. I address you as citizens of our common country,' he said.
But he was met by abusive chants and cries of 'Hands off the Donbass,' a name for the surrounding region of eastern Ukraine, which is mainly Russian-speaking.
As talks grew heated, the crowd numbering several hundred jostled the general who at one point lost his hat in the commotion.
In Kiev interim president Oleksander Turchinov said the airfield had been re-taken from the separatists.
At the airfield in Kramatorsk, tense negotiations were going on with a crowd who stood their ground despite an appeal by the local mayor, Gennady Kostykov, for them to return to their homes.
'You won't get shot at if there are no provocations', he said.
Locals, some of them holding the Russian flag, had set up barricades of sand and tyres outside the gates to the airport and prior to the troops landing some of them appeared to be preparing petrol bombs.
'At the moment a special operation is going on in Kramatorsk,' the Ukrainian defence ministry said.
Ukraine edged closer to the brink of civil war today, Moscow claimed, as troops and armoured vehicles moved towards to a flashpoint city seized by pro-Russian separatists.
More than 24 hours after an ultimatum expired ordering separatists to lay down their weapons, protesters in Russian-speaking east Ukraine were instead fortifying barricades.
Police said militants had surrendered the police headquarters in Kramatorsk, one of a string of towns and cities where official buildings have been seized. However, an official later admitted the men had occupied another building. There were no signs of insurgents backing down elsewhere.
Tensions were also running high in Kiev, Ukraine's capital, where last night two pro-Russian politicians were attacked, and today pro-government hard men were standing on the steps of the Ukrainian parliament.
Amid the deepest East-West crisis since the Cold War, the leaders of Russia and the U.S. have called on each other to do all in their power to avoid further bloodshed.
But Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev gave a gloomy assessment assessment after at least two people died on Sunday when Kiev vainly tried to regain control in Slaviansk, a town where separatists have seized buildings.
'Blood has once again been spilt in Ukraine. The country is on the brink of civil war,' he said in a statement posted on his Facebook page.
Ukraine has accused Russia of stirring up the separatists following its annexation of Crimea, while Moscow says Kiev has provoked the crisis by ignoring the interests of its citizens who use Russian as their first language.
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