Pro-Russia protesters seize four mines in Ukraine
Iran Press TV
Thu May 22, 2014 4:15PM GMT
Pro-Russian protesters have seized four coal mines in the east Ukrainian region of Lugansk.
Ukraine's energy ministry confirmed Thursday's event, which occurred in the industrial Lugansk region neighboring Russia.
The latest attack comes as the country prepares for a presidential election on Sunday that the pro-Russia protesters have vowed to disrupt.
The energy ministry provided few details in relation to the incident, and it remains unclear how many protesters had been involved or what happened to the miners.
'The energy ministry has asked the Ukrainian Security Service to take all the necessary .. measures,' the energy ministry noted.
Meanwhile, Kiev raised the number of soldiers killed in clashes with the pro-Russia activists in the country's eastern regions from 9 to at least 14.
On May 12, Ukraine's eastern regions of Donetsk and Lugansk declared independence following local referendums in which the regions' residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence from Kiev.
The referendums followed a similar vote in Crimea in March that led to the reunification of the peninsula with the Russian Federation. Nearly 97 percent of participants in Crimea's referendum voted for rejoining Russia.
Fighting broke out in eastern Ukraine last month after Kiev launched a military offensive against pro-Russia groups that have seized over a dozen towns and declared independence in Donetsk and neighboring Lugansk.
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