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Ukrainian Forces Target Pro-Russia Regions Before Referendum Vote

Around a dozen militia fighters have been killed in the Kiev-backed sting in a series of assaults on the rebel controlled checkpoints.
Photo via AP

Minutes into midnight curfew imposed in rebel-held Sloviansk, explosions rumbled through the air and automatic gunfire echoed through the night. Dogs howled before falling into an abrupt silence.

The assault, which lasted at least 40 minutes, and seemed to come from multiple sides of the city, started less than eight hours before polling stations opened for a referendum which the local militia and their pro-Russia supporters hope will result in decisive vote for the region's independence from Ukraine.

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Speaking by telephone local militia commander, Yevgeny, told VICE News that his unit were under heavy assault from the Ukrainian army, who are now a week into the "active" phase of an anti-terror operation to oust the rebels.

Around a dozen militia fighters have been killed in the Kiev-backed sting over the last week in a series of assaults on the rebel controlled checkpoints that ring the city.

Earlier in the day, 150 miles south of Sloviansk, flowers piled up on the charred steps of burnt out Mariupol police station today as the the city's residents struggled to come to terms with a brutal assault by the Ukrainian army just one day before.

The exact sequence of events which led up to the army's Mariupol assault is unclear.

Watch all of VICE News' dispatches, Russian Roulette: The Invasion of Ukraine here.

Ukraine's Interior Ministry has claimed that the attack was launched in a bid to oust pro-Russian rebels who have occupied the city administration building on-and-off for several weeks.

Video footage of the Mariupol attack shows civilians seemingly caught in the crossfire, running through the streets with their hands in the air as shots crackled through the air and tanks rolled through the streets.

As the army beat a hasty retreat from the city pursued by a crowd of angry locals, soldiers shot into the air as they came under a hail of stones.

In Photos: Bloody clashes overshadow Victory Day in eastern Ukraine. View pictures here.

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According to figures released by Human Rights Watch, at least five died during the assault, and another 40 are seriously wounded with gunshot wounds to either the stomach or legs.

Locals spent today building barricades around the edge of the city, setting a wall of tires on the north side.

Alongside the shock and sadness is a potent anger. Last night, locals begain looting some shops and businesses.

Frustrated balaclava-clad men hurled Molotov cocktails at closed buildings in a seemingly futile gesture, doing little damage other than scorching walls.

Today, an APC left behind by the Ukrainian army, was set ablaze. Live ammunition inside caused it to explode.

An abandoned military base in the center was emptied out by protesters, who reportedly also helped themselves to the arms cache inside.

The Ukrainian army's assault on the port city came just two days before a referendum on independence is scheduled to be held in the rebel-controlled areas of neighboring Donetsk and Luhansk.

The southeast, which borders on the militia controlled area, has been identified a strategic point by the government in Kiev who want to halt the rebels who have attempted to gain a foothold in the region.

But the attack, aimed at ousting the rebels, has only driven locals further into the arms of the pro-Russia forces.

"The city was divided 50/50 on a referendum, now it's 80/20" one Mariupol local told VICE News angrily.

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Referendum Votes Across Eastern Ukraine

Referendum votes will be held Sunday in the rebel controlled pockets of the region.

The ballot paper will ask voters just one question: "Do you support the proclamation of state independence for the Donetsk People's Republic?"

But many locals hope that independence will just be a stepping stone on the path to joining with Russia.

"Of course we do not make this decision now, but it is our hope that this will come in the future" said 28-year-old Sasha from Sloviansk.

Many locals say that the Ukrainian army's actions in the area have pushed the situation to a point of no return. "It's too late for another way there is too much blood spilled," added Sasha.

In Sloviansk, the heartland of the rebels' support, self-appointed people's mayor, Vyacheslav Ponomarev, told press that he expected turnout of 100 percent, with all voting in favour of independence. "Why would anybody not vote for the People's Republic?" he asked flashing a gold-toothed smile.

The people's mayor has moved swiftly and to stifle any potential opposition in the city, throwing so-called provocateurs in the basement prison of the local security service building.

"We are fully ready to have a referendum. Tomorrow is a very important day" Ponomarev told the press. "We have prepared transport for pensioners who need to get to the polling station" he added.

With just hours to go until the polls opened local volunteers worked until late in the evening to prepare the stations, some sat on the floor scratching the blue-and-yellow Ukrainian emblem off ballot boxes.

The Obozrevatel news site reported on May 10 that police near Sloviansk had detained a “group of armed terrorists” in whose vehicle they found more than 100,000 ballots for the May 11 referendum “already stamped with a ‘YES’ in support of the independence.”

Video footage purportedly of completed ballot papers being transported into the rebel-held city circulated on YouTube Friday.

Prisoners with taped hands, and bags over their heads are filmed lying next to the confiscated boxes of votes.