• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Ukrainian Official Calls Uprising 'Russian Aggression'

April 12, 2014
by RFE/RL

Acting Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov says attacks by pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine are an 'act of aggression' by Russia.

Avakov said in a statement on his Facebook page that units of the Ukrainian Interior and Defense ministries 'are implementing an operational response plan' to attacks by protesters on police stations and other government buildings in several cities and towns.

Separatists earlier stormed or took control of police stations and government buildings in the cities of Slovyansk, Donetsk, Krasny Liman, and Kramatorsk.

Avakov wrote on Facebook that in Kramatorsk, a 'gunfight' had erupted between local security forces and militants who had attacked a police station.

Acting Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov has called an emergency meeting of the National Security Council to discuss the situation in eastern Ukraine.

In Donetsk, the regional police chief has resigned amid pro-Russian protests in the regional capital, Donetsk.

Kostyantyn Pozhydayev announced his resignation on April 12, saying he was forced to step down by pro-Russian activists.

Some 1,000 protesters surrounded the regional police headquarters in Donetsk on April 12 before storming it.

Reports say armed men now occupy the building.

Also on April 12, Turchynov sacked the chief of the Security Service in the eastern Donetsk region, Valeriy Ivanov.

Ukraine Warning

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned on April 12 that any armed action by Ukrainian authorities in eastern Ukraine would put planned talks at risk.

Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Lavrov made the warning during a call from U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

The statement said Kerry expressed concern about Russia's role in 'inciting' trouble in eastern Ukraine.

Lavrov said Ukraine was 'demonstrating its inability to take responsibility for the fate of the country.'

He said that any use of force against ethnic Russians in the east of Ukraine 'would undermine the potential for cooperation ... including the holding of planned four-party talks in Geneva' on April 17.

The Geneva talks are to be attended by Russia, Ukraine, the United States and the European Union.

Earlier on April 12, acting Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsya told Lavrov via telephone that Moscow must stop 'provocative actions by Russian special agents in Ukraine's eastern regions.'

Lavrov later said he rejected all accusations of Russian agents or military troops being in eastern Ukraine and called on Kyiv to stop blaming Moscow for its problems.

Deshchytsya also confirmed his participation in the U.S.-EU-Russia-Ukraine talks in Geneva scheduled for April 17.

But a Russian Foreign Ministry official said there were still many details about the meeting to resolve, including the agenda, before Russia would take part in it.

The Ukrainian Interior Ministry also issued a statement early on April 12 warning public and political organizations to 'stop bringing militants onto the streets, stop calling for violence and aggression, stop provoking clashes.'

The ministry said people involved in organizing mass disturbances will face jail sentences of between five and eight years.

Separatist protesters first stormed government buildings in the eastern Ukrainian cities of Kharkiv, Donetsk, and Luhansk on April 6.

Only the protesters in Kharkiv have been removed from the regional government building they had occupied.

Based on reporting by Reuters, Interfax, AFP

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/ukraine-vows-tough- response-to-police-station-seizure/25330631.html

Copyright (c) 2014. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.