(Photo: AP)
Ukraine’s acting president has called an emergency meeting after armed, Russian-backed agitators seized control of government buildings in eastern Ukraine. On Saturday, armed men took control of police headquarters in Donetsk, an eastern Ukraine city that has been ground zero for pro-Russia “protests.”
“At 9 p.m. a meeting will take place of the Ukrainian council of security and defense because of the situation in the east of Ukraine,” a spokeswoman for Acting President Oleksander Turchinov said.
The area of eastern Ukraine was center of the support base for Viktor Yanukovych, the former Ukrainian president who was ousted in February following months-long protests in the capital city of Kiev. Now, ethnic Russians in the area reportedly fear that the authorities who took over after Yanukovych’s ouster will oppress them, a fear Russian President Vladimir Putin has stoked in his efforts to annex Crimea and beyond.
Russian intelligence and special forces have been operating in Ukraine, particularly eastern Ukraine, since before the Crimea referendum, which saw over 95 percent support for Russian annexation. However, those operations have ramped up in recent weeks, as Putin senses a weak western opponent.
In Slovyansk, the mayor said the men who seized the police station were demanding a referendum on autonomy and possible annexation by Russia. Protesters in other eastern cities have made similar demands after a referendum in Crimea last month in which voters opted to split off from Ukraine, leading to annexation by Russia.
Approximately 20 men in balaclavas were armed with automatic rifles and pistols. They were guarding the entrance to the police station with another 20 men who were reportedly inside. They wore St. George’s ribbons, a new symbol of being pro-Russian in eastern Ukraine, but were originally associated with the Soviet Union’s victory in World War II.
“We don’t want to be slaves of America and the West,” one of the men reportedly said. “We want to live with Russia.”
Meanwhile, Ukraine Interior Ministry Arsen Avakov said in a statement that the attack was aimed at seizing the arms stored in the police station, where about 40 automatic rifles and 400 pistols and ammunition are held.
A video from the scene saw one man carrying a sniper rifle, while an AP reporter saw another man loading the magazine of a pistol at the police station.
“The response here will be very tough because there is a huge difference between the protesters and terrorists,” Avakov said.
Yet, reports are conflicting. Mayor Nelya Shtepa told the AP that she had spoken with the “protesters” and that they were local residents, not Russians. However, they are still widely believed to be influenced by Russian operations. Even though Kiev has offered amnesty to protesters if they surrender their weapons and leave the buildings, the result of the emergency meeting may just reverse that policy.
