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hide captionPro-Russian gunmen carry their weapons in the center of Slovyansk, Ukraine, Tuesday. Gunbattles were fought around the city Monday in what has proven the most ambitious government effort to regain control of areas taken by separatists.

Pro-Russian gunmen carry their weapons in the center of Slovyansk, Ukraine, Tuesday. Gunbattles were fought around the city Monday in what has proven the most ambitious government effort to regain control of areas taken by separatists.

Ukraine says its military has killed 30 pro-Russian separatists as government forces try to retake Slovyansk and other cities near the border with Russia. At least four Ukrainian soldiers have died, and separatists shot down a helicopter in eastern Ukraine.

The helicopter's "crew escaped because they apparently crashed into a riverbed once it was shot down," NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson reports.

Ukraine's Interior Minister Arsen Avakov announced the death toll in Slovyansk on Tuesday.

From Donetsk, about 75 miles to the south of Slovyansk, Jessica Golloher filed this report for our Newscast Desk:

"Ukraine's interior ministry is saying that it is continuing its anti-terrorism campaign to root out pro-Russian demonstrators here in eastern Ukraine, with Arsen Avakov posting on his Facebook page that around 800 demonstrators are using large-caliber weapons and mortars in an attempt to push back Kiev's troops.

"This after gunbattles and explosions could be heard north of Donetsk in the pro-Russian stronghold of Slovyansk. The West and Ukraine say Russia is stoking dissent here. Moscow denies the claims and says Kiev needs to pull its troops back in order for there to be dialogue."

The airport in Donetsk was shut down Tuesday, though officials did not provide a reason. From Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson spoke about the closure on Morning Edition.

"This probably has to do with the May 9 Victory Day, which is the celebration of the Soviet victory over the Nazis in World War II," Soraya says. "That is expected to drive up more tensions, and they don't want more people showing up to agitate."

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Ukraine Reports Dozens Killed In Slovyansk Fighting

DONETSK, Ukraine (AP) Ukrainian troops tightened a security cordon around a major insurgent-held eastern city Tuesday, but pro-Russia militia acted with impunity elsewhere in the turbulent region bordering Russia, surrounding a major Interior Ministry base.

Thirty pro-Russia insurgents and four government troops were killed Monday in operations to expunge anti-government forces around the city of Slovyansk, Ukraine's interior minister said Tuesday. Rebels said 10 people fighters and civilians were killed by Ukrainian troops during clashes Monday. They would not elaborate and there was no immediate way to reconcile the figures.

Gunbattles on Monday around the city of 125,000 were the interim government's most ambitious effort to date to quell weeks of unrest in Ukraine's mainly Russian-speaking east.

In the southwest, Kiev authorities also attempted to reassert control over the key Black Sea region of Odessa by appointing a new governor there Tuesday.

This nation of 46 million is facing its worst crisis in decades after its Moscow-leaning president, whose base was in the east, fled to Russia in February following months of protests. Ukraine's eastern regions, where armed insurgents have seized dozens of government buildings and police stations in recent weeks, are now at odds with western and central Ukraine, which seek closer ties with Europe and largely back the government in Kiev.

Interior Minister Arsen Avakov gave the death toll on his Facebook page Tuesday, adding that 20 government troops were also injured during fighting in Slovyansk. He said about 800 pro-Russia forces in and around Slovyansk were using large-caliber weapons and mortars Monday.

By Tuesday morning, Ukrainian forces had taken hold of a key checkpoint north of the city, dealing a blow to insurgent lines of communication.

In Donetsk, a major city 120 kilometers (75 miles) south of Slovyansk, the airport was closed during the day to international flights following a government order but reopened later.

In the afternoon, about 30 pro-Russia militants armed with automatic rifles and grenade launchers surrounded an Interior Ministry base in Donetsk, demanding that the troops inside not join any government operations against pro-Russia forces. While it was unclear whether they would attack, besieging a government forces base marked an uptick in the offensive of the militants, who previously had focused on seizing police stations and government buildings.

In the southwest, Kiev authorities announced Tuesday they were firing the acting governor in Odessa and replacing him with member of parliament, Ihor Palytsya. Odessa's police chief was also fired over the weekend.

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Ukraine Tightens Cordon Around Rebellious City

Ukraine's Interior Minister said Tuesday that 30 pro-Russian insurgents were killed during government operations to expunge anti-government forces in and near a town in the east.

Arsen Avakov said on his Facebook page Tuesday that four government troops also died and another 20 were injured during fighting in Slovyansk.

Gunbattles took place at various positions around the city in what has proven the most ambitious government effort to date to quell unrest in the mainly Russian-speaking east.

In Donetsk, a major city some 120 kilometers south of Slovyansk, flights from the local airport were suspended Tuesday.

A display board at the Donetsk airport showed international flights had been cancelled and only outbound flights to the capital, Kiev, were still in operation. The airport said on its website that the cancellations followed a government order. It was not immediately clear Tuesday morning how long the suspension was due to remain in effect.

Avakov said Monday that pro-Russia forces in Slovyansk, a city of 125,000, were deploying large-caliber weapons and mortars in the region and there were injured on both sides. Government troops were facing about 800 insurgents, he said.

Ukraine is facing its worst crisis in decades as the polarized nation of 46 million tries to decide whether to look toward Europe, as its western regions want to do, or improve ties with Russia, which is favored by the many Russian-speakers in the east. Dozens of government offices have been seized, either by armed insurgents or anti-government crowds, over the past several weeks.

The goals of the pro-Russian insurgency are ostensibly geared toward pushing for broader powers of autonomy for the region, but some insurgents do favor separatism.

Leaders of the anti-government movement say they plan to hold a referendum on autonomy for eastern regions on May 11, although visible preparations for the vote have to date been virtually negligible.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has put the blame on the unrest squarely on Kiev, which it says "stubbornly continues to wage war against the people of its own country." The ministry has urged what it called the "Kiev organizers of the terror" to pull back their troops from the east and hold peaceful negotiations to resolve the crisis.

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Ukraine Says 30 Pro-Russian Insurgents Killed

ODESSA, Ukraine (AP) Ukraine sent an elite national guard unit to its southern port of Odessa, desperate to halt a spread of the fighting between government troops and a pro-Russia militia in the east that killed combatants on both sides Monday.

The government in Kiev intensified its attempts to bring both regions back under its control, but seemed particularly alarmed by the bloodshed in Odessa. It had been largely peaceful until Friday, when clashes killed 46 people, many of them in a government building that was set on fire.

The tensions in Ukraine also raised concerns in neighboring Moldova, another former Soviet republic, where the government said late Monday it had put its borders on alert. Moldova's breakaway Trans-Dniester region, located just northwest of Odessa and home to 1,500 Russian troops, is supported by Moscow, and many of its residents sympathize with the pro-Russia insurgency.

The loss of Odessa in addition to a swath of industrial eastern Ukraine would be catastrophic for the interim government in Kiev, leaving the country cut off from the Black Sea. Ukraine already lost a significant part of its coastline in March, when its Crimean Peninsula was annexed by Russia.

Compared with eastern Ukraine, Odessa is a wealthy city with an educated and ethnically diverse population of more than 1 million. Jews still make up 12 percent of the population of the city, which once had a large Jewish community.

"The people of Odessa are well-educated and understand perfectly well that Russia is sowing the seeds of civil war and destabilization in Ukraine," said Vladimir Kureichik, a 52-year-old literature teacher who left Crimea after it became part of Russia.

The White House said it was "extremely concerned" by the violence in southern Ukraine.

"The events in Odessa dramatically underscore the need for an immediate de-escalation of tensions in Ukraine," said spokesman Jay Carney. He suggested Russia still must follow through with its part of a diplomatic deal aimed at defusing the tensions.

In eastern Ukraine, gunfire and multiple explosions rang out in and around Slovyansk, a city of 125,000 in the Russian-speaking heartland that has become the focus of the armed insurgency against the government in Kiev.

The Russian Foreign Ministry put the blame squarely on Kiev, which "stubbornly continues to wage war against the people of its own country." The ministry urged what it called the "Kiev organizers of the terror" to pull back the troops and hold peaceful negotiations to resolve the crisis.

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Ukraine Sends Elite Force To Odessa Due To Unrest

Ukraine: Press hide in cafe to shelter from gunfire
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