Legislature of just proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic asks Putin move in peacekeepers
7 April 2014, 14:30 -- Legislature of just-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic asks Russian president to move in temporary peacekeeping contingent.The legislators also passed a decision on holding a referendum on whether or not the region should join the Russian Federation. It will be held no later than May 11, TASS reports.
Regional legislators proclaim Donetsk People's Republic - media
The members of the regional legislature in Ukraine’s industrial center of Donetsk have proclaimed the city Donetsk People’s Republic, local mass media reports.
At the moment, according to TASS, a session of the regional legislature is in progress. The deputies plan to declare a referendum on the issue of joining Russia.
A rally by civilians is in progress in front of the building of the Donetsk Regional city administration. The Russian state flag hoisted in front of the building on Sunday has been replaced with a larger one.
Protesters seize building of Ukrainian Security Service's Donetsk dep’t
Protesters have seized the building of the Ukrainian Security Service's Donetsk department. Donbass "people's militia" activists reported in social networking media that the building's "perimeter had been reinforced and archives, documents and physical infrastructure were being examined."
Pro-Russian activists had earlier seized the building of the regional administration. The police launched an inquiry under part 1, article 294 of the Ukrainian Criminal Code (mass disturbances) under the procedural supervision of the Donetsk regional prosecutor’s office.
The Donetsk regional prosecutor's office said that the Donetsk police had been working on the "liberation of the Ukrainian Security Service’s building."
"A group of aggressive young men broke into the department of the Ukrainian Security Service at 3:30 a.m. on April 7 and seized the premises without putting forward any coherent demands. A criminal case was opened under part 1 article 294 (mass disturbances)," the report said.
Ukraine cannot stabilize without federalization - lawmaker
Stability in Ukraine is unattainable without federalization, State Duma International Affairs Committee Chairman Alexei Pushkov said.
"The events in Donetsk and other cities of eastern Ukraine show that stability is impossible without federalization, especially as Kiev does not possess financial assets," Pushkov tweeted on Monday.
Pro-Russian activists in Kharkov awaiting reinforcements from Donetsk, Lugansk
Pro-Russian activists who have occupied the building of the Kharkov regional administration are awaiting reinforcements from Donetsk and Lugansk. Pro-Russian protesters entered the building of the Kharkov regional administration on Sunday. It took them ten minutes to get inside. People on the street greeted with cheers and whistle the appearance of a man carrying the Russian flag in a second-floor window. They shouted, "Bravo" and "Police and People Together". Earlier reports said the storm of the Kharkov regional administration began on Sunday night.
"We must hang on for 24 hours. Reinforcements from Donetsk and Lugansk will arrive within a day. We have spoken to both. We just have to hang on for 24 hours," activist Yehor Lohvynov told his associates in the building.
"We are tasked to get organized: be quiet, peaceful and calm and avoid marauding. Only the Ukrainian Eastern Bloc and the Civil Defense of the Region will stay inside, there will be no strangers here," he said. Lohvynov declared local deputies illegitimate.
"Deputies were summoned but not a single person showed up, not a single one: So, neither of them is legitimate, no one has appeared and reported: As soon as we get help, we will start appointing our people," he said. In his words, main officials will be appointed "in a direct vote of all Kharkov residents held on the square."
There are many people wearing masks inside the Kharkov regional administration's building and some of them are also wearing helmets, according to Interfax. Activist Serhiy Yudayev warned journalists they must not ask those people to take off their masks.
"Any requests to take off a mask will be viewed as provocation," he added.
Ukraine: pro-Russian protesters declare ultimatum to authorities in Donetsk, urge for referendum
If MPs do not convene before 23:59 pm local time on 6 April and do not pass a resolution on holding a referendum, residents of the Donbass Region will declare them illegitimate. Residents of the Donbass Region demanded that regional MPs return to their seats and hold a session to discuss the issue of conducting a referendum.
According to a LifeNews correspondent working on the site, both law enforcers and protesters are behaving calmly.
Activists established their own checkpoint at the entrance to the local administration building and check the documents of those who intend to enter the building. The activists also insist that police officers leave the building.
Over a thousand Donbass Region residents are staying in the square. They are playing the guitars, singing songs and setting up tents.
Ukraine: pro-Russian protesters seize gov't buildings in Donetsk, Lugansk, Kharkov
Several dozen pro-Russian protesters broke through police lines on Sunday and entered the regional administration building in Ukraine's eastern city of Kharkov, an AFP reporter at the scene said. The activists raised a Russian flag over the building after similar protests in the eastern cities of Donetsk and Lugansk. An AFP reporter said police did not use force against the demonstrators, whose numbers outside the building swelled to about 2,000 people.
The protesters stormed regional government buildings in the industrial hub of Donetsk and security service offices in nearby Lugansk, waving Russian flags and demanding a Crimea-style referendum on joining Russia.
Around 1,500 people protested in Donetsk on Sunday before breaking into the regional administration building, where they hung a Russian flag from a second-floor balcony, a Reuters witness said. Protesters outside cheered and chanted "Russia! Russia!".
In the Lugansk protest, Ukrainian television said three people had been injured. Police could not confirm the report.
Talking to the crowd over a loudspeaker, protest leaders in Donetsk said they wanted regional lawmakers to convene an emergency meeting to discuss a referendum on joining Russia.
Residents of Ukraine's Donetsk and Kharkov rally to join Russia
About 500 people from pro-Russian political parties and organizations are holding a rally at Lenin Square in the Ukrainian city of Donetsk this Saturday. Many of the rally's participants are demanding that Donbass (a region in Ukraine, known for its coal production, where Donetsk is one of the largest cities) should become a part of Russia. Simultaneously, two rallies are being held in Kharkov's Liberty Square in support of a referendum on Ukraine's federalization.
Some are carrying Russian white-blue-and-red flags with "The Donetsk Republic" written on them, Interfax-Ukraina news agency reports.
After the rally, the participants plan to march along Artyom Street (Donetsk's central street) to the city council's office, which is not far from Lenin Square.
Kharkov, Odessa, Donetsk regions demand autonomy for southeastern Ukraine
Demonstrators at a pro-Russian rally in central Kharkov on Sunday called for the establishment of an autonomous republic consisting of southeastern Ukrainian provinces. The meetings in Kharkov were followed by big Ukrainian cities such as Dotetsk, Odessa and Lugansk. The demonstrators urged the southeastern Ukrainian provinces to unite against Kiev.
"We are the successors of the republics of Donetsk-Krovoy Rog and Odessa. We are not the surviving remnants of the Bandera forces. We have been and will be the pillar of our country," Yuri Apukhtin, a Civic Forum leader, told the demonstrators.
He urged the southeastern provinces to unite, create a coordination committee and campaign against the Kiev putschists as a single front.
"We see our place in Ukraine in a historically-shaped southeastern autonomy," Apukhtin said.
An agreement has been reached with the leaders of similar protests in Donetsk and Lugansk to coordinate joint efforts, he said.
The protesters demanded the release of well-known activist Ignat Kromskoy, who had been put under house arrest "on charges of organizing mass riots" for taking part in the March 1 action to drive away maidan supporters who had come from Kiev and other regions and seized the regional administration’s office.
Participants in a similar rally in Luhansk demanded federalization and protested against the suspension of Russian TV channels in the Lugansk region. Several demonstrators wiped their boots on a Ukrainian national flag.
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