Gunmen seize police station in east Ukraine

[Bosonic]

Last edited Sun Apr 13, 2014, 05:07 AM - Edit history (1)

Source: AFP

Donetsk (Ukraine) (AFP) - A small group of gunmen on Saturday seized a police station in Ukraine's restive eastern industrial heartland amid escalating protests in favour of the heavily Russified region joining Kremlin rule.

Ukraine's Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said another group of gunmen also tried to take control of the Donetsk region's prosecutor's office but was repelled.

The early dawn raid on the police station happened in the town of Slavyansk -- about 60 kilometres (35 miles) north of the regional capital Donetsk.

The Donetsk adminstration centre is already under the control of several hundred gunmen who have proclaimed the creation of their own "people's republic" and called on President Vladimir Putin to send Russian troops into eastern Ukraine.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/pro-moscow-separatists-stay-put-despite-ukraine-pms-053651893.html

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Gunmen seize Ukraine police station in Sloviansk

Armed men dressed in camouflage clothing have seized a police station in eastern Ukraine, officials say.

Police said the gang fired shots and used stun grenades to seize the offices in Sloviansk, near the Russian border.

Interior Minister Arsen Avakov called the gunmen "terrorists" and said special forces would repel the attack.

Pro-Russian protesters have taken over government buildings throughout eastern Ukraine. Kiev says the unrest is being orchestrated from Moscow.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-27000700

[dipsydoodle]

1. BBC link now updated : Ukraine gunmen seize two buildings in Sloviansk.

Armed men have seized a police station and a security services building in eastern Ukraine, officials say.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-27000700

[dipsydoodle]

2. Ukraine police says pro-Russian militants seize hundreds of guns

Reuters) - Pro-Russian militants have seized at least 400 handguns and 20 automatic weapons from a police station they are occupying in the east Ukrainian city of Slaviansk, police said on Saturday.

"The aim of the takeover was the guns," a police statement issued from the capital Kiev said. "They are giving these guns to participants in the protest in Slaviansk."

A Reuters photographer at the building said he had not seen the attackers handing out weapons.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/04/12/uk-ukraine-crisis-guns-idUKBREA3B07Q20140412

[cosmicone]

3. If they are pro-Russia they are "gunmen" or "militants"

If they are pro-West, they are protestors.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

4. And what happens if they are pro-Ukraine?

That is the country we are talking about, correct?

[Benton D Struckcheon]

5. That's because, if you're Russian, or pro-Russian, Ukraine doesn't actually exist.

It was never supposed to be independent in the first place. Anyone thinking it should be is, according to the superficial readings of these instant experts on all things Slavic, automatically a Banderist, because, you know, that guy.
One wonders if these folks ever heard of the Holodomor? Hanging around here, all you ever hear about is Bandera and co. The rest of the history of the country (including a very interesting, long rivalry with Poland) might as well not have happened.
Not that I'm an expert. It's just that hanging around here you get a very distorted history of that country, from people who for some reason are invested in Russia's side in this dispute. Ukraine's side is automatically rejected as illegitimate, even though people on the ground in the east report that even among Russian speakers (and really, everyone in Ukraine speaks Russian) the majority, regardless of how they feel about the Maidan, want to keep Ukraine in one piece.
Presenting the issue as being about the Maidan serves the Russian purpose, however.

[Eko]

9. I think

if most are wearing battle gear with automatic rifles and taking over buildings then they have probably left the realm of protester. Could just be me though.

[dipsydoodle]

6. Uniformed Men Occupy Donetsk Police HQ.

Men in the uniforms of Ukraine's now-defunct riot police on Saturday occupied police headquarters in Donetsk, the eastern city that is one of the flashpoints of a wave of pro-Russia protests, hours after armed men seized local police headquarters and local branch of the Security Service in a nearby city.

Interior Minister Arsen Avakov described the unrest as "Russian aggression" and said Ukraine's security officials would be gathering for an extraordinary meeting late Saturday evening.

The unrest in Donetsk and the city of Slovyansk, about 90 kilometers (55 miles) to the north, were the latest shows of spiraling anger in eastern Ukraine, which has a large Russian-speaking population and was also the support base for Viktor Yanukovych, the Ukrainian president who was ousted in February after months of protests in the capital, Kiev. Ethnic Russians in Ukraine's east widely fear that the authorities who took over after Yanukovych's fall will suppress them.

In Slovyansk, the mayor said the men who seized the police station were demanding a referendum on autonomy and possible annexation by Russia. Protesters in other eastern cities have made similar demands after a referendum in Crimea last month in which voters opted to split off from Ukraine, leading to annexation by Russia.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/armed-men-seize-eastern-ukraine-police-station-23301051

Well at least know what the uniforms are now - Ukraine's now-defunct riot police uniforms.

[Bosonic]

8. Some of the uniforms do seem familiar, yes

[dipsydoodle]

7. Ukraine crisis: Kramatorsk shooting reported

Ukraine's interim interior minister says firing has broken out in Kramatorsk, in the Donetsk region.

Arsen Avakov said the gun battle began when men tried to storm local administration buildings and police fired back.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-27005783