Ukrainian Parliament authorizes use of security service in military actions
9 April 2014, 19:28 -- The Ukrainian Parliament has approved an amendment to legislation allowing the state communications service to be used in military operations alongside the country's armed forces. The service, which specializes in information security and intelligence gathering, can now carry out operations together with military forces, which have recently stepped up their presence in regions protesting for greater autonomy, RIA reports.
Protesters have been rallying since Sunday for federalization across the eastern and southeastern regions of Donetsk, Kharkiv, and Lugansk, calling for Crimea-style referendums on the status of their regions within Ukraine. Beginning last month, protests in eastern cities have been held each weekend, with citizens refusing to accept their newly-appointed governors as legitimate, as they were installed by the organizers of the coup that came to power in the capital in February.
Russia has described the uprising in Kiev as an illegitimate fascist coup and a military seizure of power. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov railed against attempts by the West to justify the actions of the neo-Nazis and their accomplices and called on the US and EU to condemn the extremists.
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