UKRAINIAN separatists regrouped in Donetsk today after Kiev’s forces drove them out of Sloviansk.

The self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic’s defence minister Igor Girkin said rebels would continue to fight and described the withdrawal as a “tactical retreat.”

But Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko claimed capturing Sloviansk was “the start of a turning point” in the war to stamp out opposition to his regime.

“It’s not a total victory. But the purging of Sloviansk has incredible symbolic importance,” he declared.

And even Mr Girkin admitted that unless assistance was received from Russia it would only be “two or three weeks” before his forces succumbed to the fascist-backed regime’s assault.

This was in marked contrast to Donetsk People’s Republic governor Pavel Gubarev, who remarked that “Kutuzov also retreated, as that was the plan,” referring to the 19th-century Russian general identified with victory over Napoleon.

“In general, Russians only retreat before a decisively victorious battle,” he insisted.

The city had been heavily bombarded, leaving it “in ruins,” according to prominent separatist leader Andrei Purgin.

No details on the total number of casualties were released by either side, though a wounded resident who identified himself only as Viktor said over 100 rebel fighters had been killed.

“The mood is very bad,” he told reporters. “It seems that we’ve lost the war and Russia isn’t in a hurry to help.”

Russia did not comment on the fall of Sloviansk but said it would step up efforts to supply medical aid to eastern Ukraine.

Ukrainian Defence Minister Valery Heletey confirmed that the army was handing responsibility for “the peaceful citizens of Sloviansk” to the Emergencies Ministry, saying three planes of emergency food and drinking water supplies would arrive shortly.

Work had already begun on repairing damaged buildings, he said, while troops were now gathering a haul of captured weaponry.

But National Security and Defence Council spokesman Andriy Lysenko described the city as “under siege” and said operations to “neutralise” small rebel groups were continuing.