Eastern Ukraine is reportedly
under attack by pro-Russian separatists.
The
latest from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty:
- Separatist protesters in the eastern Ukrainian city of
Slovyansk have taken over the city hall and the local Ukrainian
secret service (SBU) headquarters after earlier taking control of a
police station. - Disturbances have also been reported in other eastern Ukrainian
towns of Krasny Lyman and Kramatorsk. - The regional police chief in Ukraine’s eastern industrial
Donetsk Oblast has resigned amid pro-Russian protests in the
regional capital, Donetsk.
Noting similarities between the current attack and the one in
Crimea last month, the Kyiv Post
writes that the situation “looks like a special Russian
military operation” conducted by “masked men in army fatigues and
bulletproof vests, armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles.” The
Post adds that local officials may have facilitated the
offensive:
The swiftness and scope of today’s attacks, as well as the
support of the armed takeovers by the mayor of Sloviansk, suggest
that the operation was planned well in advance and had support from
within the ranks of Ukraine’s government, including its law
enforcement agencies, in Donetsk Oblast.
The Telegraph‘s Moscow correspondent Roland Oliphant is
live-tweeting
about passing through check points guarded by armed men. He snapped
a photo of one masked gunmen, who showed off medals he
claimed to receive fighting for Russia in Afghanistan.
Time reports that
some participants are wearing the uniforms of Berkut, a notorious
riot police force that the pro-western government disbanded for its
role in brutalizing and killing civilians under orders from the
previous president earlier this year.
Earlier this week separatists stormed government buildings,
demanding secession referendums. They quickly abandoned most of
them, but in one case the separatists allegedly
took 60 hostages and wired the building with
explosives.
Read more Reason coverage of Ukraine here.
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