Peter Leonard
DONETSK, Ukraine // Anti-government demonstrators in a major eastern Ukraine city stormed and took over the regional prosecutor’s office on Thursday as evidence mounts that authorities are losing control over swathes of the country.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, said Ukraine should withdraw its troops from the east and south, where insurgents seeking either greater autonomy or annexation by Russia have seized government facilities in more than a dozen cities.
Moscow has consistently denounced Ukrainian security forces’ largely ineffectual “anti-terrorist” operation against the eastern insurgents and warned they should not commit violence against civilians. In a telephone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Mr Putin said the removal of military units from the south and east was a “main thing,” but it was unclear if that could be construed as an outright demand.
A row of several dozen riot police standing guard at the regional prosecutor’s office fired stun grenades and tear gas when some at the front of the crowd of several hundred people attempted to force their way into the building in Donetsk.
As the confrontation escalated, some in the crowd threw rocks and managed to tear shields off the police.
Hundreds of onlookers accompanying the protesters, who included several crying children, shouted slogans and hurled abuse.
Upon occupying the building, protesters discarded the Ukrainian flag and replaced it with that of the Donetsk People’s Republic — a movement that seeks either greater autonomy from the central government, or independence and possible annexation by Russia.
Donetsk is the heartland of support for Russia-friendly former President Viktor Yanukovich, who was ousted in February after months of protests in the capital. Opponents of the government that succeeded him have seized buildings in about a dozen cities and towns in eastern Ukraine.
The swift takeover of the building appears to lend weight to an admission by acting President Oleksandr Turchynov this week that police and security forces were “helpless” to stifle unrest in the country’s east.
On Wednesday, insurgents took control of the customs service building in Donetsk and city hall in Alchevsk, an industrial centre of about 110,000 people, adding to the scores of buildings taken by the separatists over the past month in the east, where a dozen cities are now in the hands of the separatists.
Turchynov has twice proclaimed “anti-terrorist” operations to regain control of the east, but to little effect.
Associated Press
