Deadly clashes at Ukraine port base as leaders meet

Ukrainian attack helicopters buzzed villagers in Kramatorsk, but the army eventually had to give up, as Daniel Sandford reports

Three people were killed in a raid on a base in eastern Ukraine overnight, the country's interior minister says, as the US, Russia, the EU and Ukraine begin crisis talks in Geneva.

The three pro-Russian separatists were killed in a clash with Ukrainian forces in Mariupol, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said on Facebook.
The Geneva meeting is the first such gathering since the crisis escalated.
The West says Russia is aiding the pro-Russian activists occupying buildings.
Tensions escalated last month when Russia annexed Crimea, causing international outrage. Unrest later spread to Donetsk region, another mainly Russian-speaking area. It is Europe's worst crisis since the Cold War.
About 300 separatists attacked a military unit in Mariupol near the Azov Sea, throwing petrol bombs. Troops opened fire, killing three, Mr Avakov said.
Reinforcements The operation is continuing - Ukraine has sent in reinforcements including helicopters. There was no independent confirmation of his statement.
According to Mr Avakov, 13 of the attackers were wounded and so far 63 have been detained. He said none of the interior ministry troops had been killed.
It is the heaviest casualty toll in any single incident so far in eastern Ukraine.

A man wounded in the clash in Mariupol is given first aid

Mariupol is in the far south of Donetsk region, where separatists have seized dozens of official buildings.
Ukrainian SBU special forces have gone to the aid of the interior ministry troops in Mariupol and armoured vehicles have gone into the city from places nearby, Ukraine's Unian news agency reports.
Retreating separatists reportedly wounded two passers-by, set a minibus ablaze and also set fire to a building next to the military garrison.
"Through joint efforts by the armed police and national guard the attacking gang was dispersed after a short battle, most of them were cornered and disarmed," Mr Avakov said.
"Because it was such an aggressive attack on a military unit - an interior ministry group - we decided to reinforce them with Omega special forces. Helicopters have been deployed."
Ukraine will be a key issue when Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks in a live phone-in programme, due to be televised from 12:00 (08:00 GMT). He will answer questions from citizens across the country - including for the first time Crimea.

Ukraine's "anti-terrorist" operation is looking more and more a non-event - or worse, an outright fiasco.
Kiev officials have admitted they have no time to lose to extinguish the growing insurrection in the country's east.
But the decision to send the army in has so far backfired terribly.
The soldiers have been helpless and obviously unhappy with being deployed against crowds of civilians.
Ukraine's new leaders are under a great amount of pressure - not just from the Kremlin and the pro-Russian activists, but from their own supporters, outraged at their government's inability to stem the separatist tide.
Right now, everything has been thrown into doubt - even the future of this government and of Ukraine itself.
The biggest question is what will follow.

Russia's annexation of Crimea has fuelled concern that other parts of eastern Ukraine could also break away from Kiev's control and join Russia.

US accuses Russia US President Barack Obama has warned Russia against support for further action by armed pro-Russian groups.
"What I have said consistently is that each time Russia takes these kinds of steps that are designed to destabilise Ukraine and violate their sovereignty, that there are going to be consequences," he said.
Reports say that the White House is considering a package of non-lethal aid for the Ukrainian military. This may include clothing and medical supplies.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's military operation against separatists has hit obstacles.
Called an "anti-terrorist" operation by the Kiev government, it started on Tuesday and is designed to dislodge pro-Russia gunmen from local authority buildings in a swathe of cities and towns in eastern Ukraine.
Pro-Russian activists want referendums on greater autonomy for the south-east or the right to join the Russian Federation.
But in several districts, Ukrainian troops met vehement opposition on Wednesday from pro-Russia supporters, who object to the new government in Kiev.
In the city of Kramatorsk, six military vehicles were commandeered on Wednesday by gunmen, who disarmed the Ukrainian soldiers and sent some of them home on buses.

Daniel Sandford in Sloviansk gets up close to a Ukrainian armoured vehicle which was "rebranded" with a Russian flag

One Ukrainian officer said he had not "come to fight" and would never obey orders to shoot his "own people".
In another incident, several hundred residents of Pchyolkino, south of Sloviansk, surrounded a column of 14 Ukrainian military vehicles.
After the crowd was reinforced by pro-Russian gunmen, negotiations ensued and the troops were allowed to drive their vehicles away, but only after agreeing to surrender the magazines from their assault rifles.
The foreign ministers of the US, EU, Ukraine and Russia will begin talks shortly in Geneva.
The US and the EU want an end to the occupations in eastern Ukraine and for the estimated 40,000-strong Russian forces massed near the Ukrainian border to pull back.

Troops conducting Kiev's military operation in the east met opposition in several districts

Pro-Russian gunmen seized Ukrainian military vehicles and took them to Sloviansk

John Kerry arrives in Geneva where it will be difficult to bridge the gap with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov

A US official, speaking as Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Geneva, stressed that Russia must "take this opportunity to de-escalate" or face a tightening of sanctions.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Andriy Deshchytsya, called on Russia "not to support terrorist activities in eastern Ukraine."
As if to further illustrate the gulf between the West and Russia over the crisis, Russia's foreign ministry accused Washington of "the persistent unwillingness or inability to see reality as it is in fact, and in a striving to impose on the rest of the world a distorted perception of what is happening in southeast Ukraine."

Nato's announcement is about reassuring worried allies in the Baltic republics and central Europe, as well as signalling to Moscow that when it comes to the alliance's core business - the defence of its members' territory - Nato is as vigilant as ever.
Air patrols over the Baltic republics are to be stepped up; Nato warships will deploy to the eastern Mediterranean and the Baltic Sea.
And on land, staff officers will be dispatched to oversee an enhanced programme of exercises and preparedness in the countries most concerned.
Nato will also review and reinforce its defence plans. In the longer term additional deployments may well be made. Nato sources indicate that this is only the first step of several that could be taken if the relationship with Russia sours further.

Russia, which strongly opposed the ousting of Ukraine's pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych in February, has proposed a new constitution which devolves more power to the regions.

Expectations for the talks are low, says the BBC's Gavin Hewitt in Geneva.
Nato Russia's stance over eastern Ukraine and its annexation of Crimea continue to cause concern in Nato member countries with large Russian-speaking minorities, such as Latvia and Estonia.
So Nato announced on Wednesday that it was beefing up its eastern members' defences.
In Brussels, Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen promised "more planes in the air, more ships on the water, more readiness on the land".