The Ukrainian Interior Ministry said about 15 unidentified armed men, who were wearing camouflage clothing and balaclavas, stormed the building in Slovyansk on Saturday. The town is about 90km south of Donetsk, where pro-Russian protesters briefly took over the prosecutor's office, before riot police arrived.
Interior Minister Arsen Avakov had pledged a "very tough response" to the seizure. In a post on Facebook, he said: "The response will be very tough, because there is a difference between protesters and terrorists."
Another government building in Donetsk has for nearly a week been occupied by protesters demanding greater autonomy in the region.
Ukraine's eastern industrial heartland was the support base for Kremlin-friendly President Viktor Yanukovich, who was ousted in February after months of protests over his decision to ditch an EU trade pact in favour of closer ties with Moscow. Last month, the Crimea region voted to secede and was annexed by Russia.
Lack of trust
Meanwhile in the eastern city of Luhansk, negotiations between protest leaders and a delegation from Kiev were taking place inside an occupied police building, Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel-Hamid reported, adding that the protesters wanted guarantees due to lack of trust in Ukraine's new government.
They also demanded the guarantee for amnesty and a southeastern army "that would be within the framework of the national army, but led by local command".
In a video posted online from Slovyansk, protesters hoisted the Russian flag above the captured building. Videos also showed several men with machine guns guarding the entrance to the police station.
The AFP news agency reported that they were all wearing St George's ribbons, a symbol of the Soviet Union's victory in the Second World War that has become a symbol of pro-Russian protesters in eastern Ukraine.......................[aljazeera.com]
12/4/14
-------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------
- Special-purpose police refuse to go to Slavyansk
Donetsk special police unit members, who formerly served in the Berkut force, refused to go to Slavyansk, where administrative buildings were seized by activists of the Donbass People's Militia opposing the new Ukrainian leaders, Russia 24 television said.
Member of the special forces were sent to Slavyansk to storm the seized police department building, but they refused to obey the order and returned to the deployment place in Donetsk, a Russia 24 correspondent reported.
The correspondent denied reports of some media that buses with police were stopped by federalization supporters.
Administrative buildings in Slavyansk in the Donetsk region were seized by activists of the Donbass People's Militia, who came out against the new leaders in Ukraine, Slavyansk Mayor Nelya Shtepa said on Saturday.
"Today I have had talks. They explained to me that they were from the Donetsk regional people's militia. They said they opposed those in power in Kiev. Today, they are negotiating with them," she said.
The press secretary of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry's Donetsk regional department, Igor Demin, told Itar-Tass on Saturday the buildings of the city departments of the Interior Ministry and the Security Service were seized.
A Russian flag was raised over the police department, local media reported.
According to media reports, barricades of tires, wooden shields and sand sacks were set up around the building. Behind the barricades were people who supported militia activists.
Ukrainian parliament-appointed Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said earlier on Saturday a special police force was sent to Slavyansk.
[itar-tass.com]
12/4/14
GR
FR
DE
ES
IT
RU
EU
Coup-imposed Ukrainian president Turchinov sacks Donetsk security service chief over anti-Maidan protests in the country's Southeastern part.
ReplyDeleteRead more: http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_04_12/Donetsk-security-services-chief-dismissed-by-Ukraines-acting-president-8607/
12/4/14
Lavrov denies east Ukraine unrest was conducted by supposed Russian agents...
ReplyDeleteRussian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has denied allegations that the current unrest in southeastern Ukraine is the work of supposed Russian agents. Ukrainian acting Foreign Minister Andrei Deshchytsya called Lavrov on Saturday and, "in the course of the conversation, tried to hold Russia accountable for the aggravation of the situation in the south and southeast of Ukraine," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
A statement recently published by the Russian Foreign Ministry says that there are no reasons to accuse Russia of aggravating of the situation in Ukraine’s southern and southeastern regions.
In response, Sergey Lavrov said that there are no grounds for such claims. He added that the US has already put forward similar accusations against Russia, but failed to give any concrete evidence................Read more: http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_04_12/Lavrov-denies-east-Ukraine-unrest-was-conducted-by-supposed-Russian-agents-0261/
12/4/14
Ukraine's acting president convenes Security Council over unrests in southeast...
ReplyDeleteUkraine’s parliament-appointed acting President Alexander Turchinov will convene the National Security and Defence Council on Saturday, April 12, to discuss the situation in the country’s southeast swept by public unrests.
The meeting is scheduled for 21:00 local time, the One Plus One television channel said.
Protesters against the new Kiev authorities have seized administrative buildings in at least four district capitals of the southeastern Donetsk region. Local police refused to obey Kiev’s orders to storm the buildings.
Several dozen people formed a living shield in front of the gates to one of the Interior Ministry units in Donetsk to prevent the troops from going to Slavyansk and Krasny Liman where protesters had seized several administrative buildings.
Demonstrators have seized police stations, Security Service offices or district administration buildings in Slavyansk, Krasny Liman, Krasnoarmeisk, and Druzhkovka, all in the southeast of Ukraine.
In Krasny Liman, unidentified persons seized the district police station, local media reported. “About 20 people entered the station which had been surrounded by Afghan war veterans and Cossacks,” reports said...............http://en.itar-tass.com/world/727563
12/4/14
‘Casualties’ claimed as protests spread in east Ukraine...
ReplyDeleteA Ukrainian officer and one pro-Russian activist were killed in the eastern city of Slaviansk, officials said Sunday, after gunfire allegedly broke out as Ukraine tried to oust militants who have seized several law enforcement buildings in the area.
Journalists reporting from the scene, however, said there was no evidence backing the claims that gunfire between the two sides had broken out.
In a Facebook post, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said several people were also wounded in what is the first reported gun-battle in eastern Ukraine after camouflaged gunmen seized both the police station and the local Security Service office on Saturday.
Citing a local militant, Russian news agency RIA reported said one pro-Russian militant had been killed and that two others had been injured.......http://www.france24.com/en/20140413-clashes-east-ukraine-casualties-pro-russia-militants-gunfire/
13/4/14