Protesters seize city council, police department in Ukraine's Gorlovka
30 April 2014, 14:15 -- Supporters of federalization have taken control of the city council building and police department in the eastern Ukrainian city of Gorlovka, a local official told the Russian nes agency on Wednesday. 'The Gorlovka district council and central city police depatment were seized by armed men. There are about 20-30 people, they represent the People's Republic of Donetsk,' a representative of the regional branch of the Interior Ministry said.
Gorlovka is a city of 250,000 in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine, just 37 kilometers from Donetsk.
Pro-federalization rallies have been spreading across southeastern Ukraine since a regime change in Kiev in February.
Ukraine's parliament has scheduled early presidential elections for May 25.
Protesters in Russian-speaking regions of Ukraine have been calling for referendums and the creation of independent people's republics.
The Donetsk region plans to hold such a referendum on May 11.
Moscow has repeatedly expressed doubts about the legitimacy of upcoming presidential elections in Ukraine, saying they violate international laws and urging Kiev to take into consideration the demands of all citizens in the country.
Ukrainian armed forces put on alert - acting president Turchynov
The Ukrainian armed forces have been put on combat alert, Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada Chairman and interim President Aleksandr Turchynov said.
'I am once again addressing the real danger of the start of a continental war against Ukraine by the Russian Federation. Our armed forces have been put on full combat alert,' Turchynov said at a conference with the heads of regional administrations in Kiev on Wednesday.
Ukrainian interim president Turchynov accuses Donetsk, Lugansk law enforcement chiefs of inefficiency
Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada Chairman and acting president Alexander Turchynov has accused the law enforcement and security agencies in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions of an inability to properly perform their duties. He also suggested that some of them are collaborating with local opponents of the so-called Euro-Maidan activists in Kiev.
'Law enforcement and security structures are unable today to promptly establish control over the situation in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions,' Turchynov said at a conference with the heads of regional administrations in Kiev on Wednesday.
'It is precisely security structures, Interior Ministry and Security Service units in these regions - I mean primarily the Donetsk and Lugansk regions - that are unable to perform their duties. They are helpless in these issues. Moreover, some of them are either facilitating or collaborating with terrorist organizations,' Turchynov said.
In an April 29 address to the nation, Turchynov charged that the events in the eastern part of Ukraine revealed the inactivity, helplessness, and sometimes treason of law enforcement officials in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions.
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