TIME

Ukraine Leader Orders Forces To Resume Operations in Restive East

A pro-Russian activist walks in front a barricade set up outside the regional administrative building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk on April 21, 2014.
Anatoliy Stepanov—AFP/Getty Images A pro-Russian activist walks in front a barricade set up outside the regional administrative building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk on April 21, 2014.

Ukraine's acting president Oleksander Turchinov ordered security forces to resume "counter-terrorism operations" after two bodies with suspected torture marks were found in eastern Ukraine, where separatists are occupying towns and cities

Ukraine’s acting president called Tuesday for security forces to resume “counter-terrorism” operations in eastern Ukraine after two bodies, including one of a local politician, were reportedly found in the region with signs of torture.

“The terrorists who effectively took the whole Donetsk region hostage have now gone too far, by starting to torture and murder Ukrainian patriots,” Oleksander Turchinov said in a statement.

The deceased politician, Volodymyr Ryback, was a member of a Turchinov’s party who had recently been kidnapped, BBC reports.

Ukraine had suspended the “active stage” of operations that began last week against pro-Russian separatists who have occupied towns and cities in the region, after international parties agreed Thursday to a joint roadmap to end the crisis near the Ukraine-Russia border. But the separatists have so far defied the agreement’s stipulation that they disarm. Vice President Joe Biden, on a visit to Kiev Tuesday, called on Russia to “stop talking and start acting,” Reuters reports.

[BBC]

Tap to read full story

Your browser is out of date. Please update your browser at http://update.microsoft.com


YOU BROKE TIME.COM!

Dear TIME Reader,

As a regular visitor to TIME.com, we are sure you enjoy all the great journalism created by our editors and reporters. Great journalism has great value, and it costs money to make it. One of the main ways we cover our costs is through advertising.

The use of software that blocks ads limits our ability to provide you with the journalism you enjoy. Consider turning your Ad Blocker off so that we can continue to provide the world class journalism you have become accustomed to.

The TIME Team