The Ukrainian government launches "anti-terrorist" operation against citizens who seized government buildings and called for Russian troops to invade, further raising tensions in the restive Eastern European state
About 70 people have been arrested in eastern Ukraine for taking over a regional administrative building in the Donetsk region city of Kharkiv.
The “anti-terrorist” operation was launched by the Ukrainian government in response to hundreds of pro-Kremlin protesters seizing government buildings in Donetsk on Monday, calling for Russia to send in troops. They even declared the region independent from Kiev, Reuters reports.
“An anti-terrorist operation has been launched. The city center is blocked along with metro stations. Do not worry. Once we finish, we will open them again,” the Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said Tuesday on his Facebook profile.
The Ukrainian government established an “anti-crisis headquarters” on Monday and said that it would establish “anti-terrorist measures” to use against citizens who take up arms.
Ukraine’s interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk lashed out at compatriots in the east of the country planning to “destabilize the situation” and “ensure that foreign troops could cross the border and capture the territory of the country,” United Press International reports.
[Reuters]