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| Kiev says Russia provoking trouble in eastern Ukraine | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| KIEV, Ukraine — As pro-Russian militants in eastern Ukraine declared a “People’s Republic of Donetsk” and a “Kharkiv National Republic” on Monday, Ukrainian officials accused Moscow of orchestrating the moves as the first step toward launching an invasion. | |
| In Washington, the White House expressed deep skepticism that the scattered uprisings and building takeovers have been spontaneous or representative of public sentiment in the regions affected. “There is strong evidence suggesting some of these demonstrators were paid,” said Jay Carney, the White House spokesman. | |
| The sudden uptick in tension, which began Sunday when pro-Russia protests turned violent, has raised fears that Russia is about to try to duplicate its success in annexing Crimea. But the United States and other Western countries have warned that they will not stand by in that event. | |
| “If Russia moves into Eastern Ukraine, either overtly or covertly, this would be a very serious escalation,” Carney said. He promised that the United States and its allies would impose further sanctions on Moscow. | |
| In Donetsk, several hundred militants who occupied an administration building declared themselves the new authorities and announced a referendum on secession to be held no later than May 11. They called on Russia to send in troops if they are attacked. | |
| There was little evidence that they enjoy any public support. | |
| The Ukrainian government, acting on fears that Russia is following the script that played out in Crimea last month, dispatched its highest-level police and security officials to the eastern part of the country Monday in an effort to put down the separatist agitation. | |
| Kiev is contending with a plan to “destabilize the situation,” Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk told an emergency cabinet meeting Monday. “The plan is for foreign troops to cross the border and seize the country’s territory, which we will not allow.” | |
| U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. | |
| Kerry "called on Russia to publicly disavow the activities of separatists, saboteurs and provocateurs" in Ukraine, state department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said afterward. | |
| Lavrov, for his part, called on Ukraine to disavow the use of force. In a conversation with Ukraine’s foreign minister, | |
| Andrii Deshchytsia, on Monday evening, Lavrov said Kiev must not use force against the pro-Russia militants. | |
| According to a ministry statement, he emphasized “the need to respect the aspirations of the residents of southeastern Ukraine and the inadmissibility of the use of force to respond to legal demands [by protesters] to protect their language, culture and socioeconomic rights.” | |
| Russia, by contrast, considers any protest that hasn’t gotten prior approval from the authorities to be illegal. Even then, demonstrators have sometimes been met with police violence, as happened in May 2012 on the eve of Vladimir Putin’s inauguration. Some of those arrested that day are still being prosecuted. | |
| In Kharkiv, local reporters said that a group of armed men stormed the opera house Monday under the impression that it was the mayor’s office. Fighting in Kharkiv continued into the evening, as armed agitators tried to storm the local security agency headquarters, but police said they were eventually turned back. | |
| Yulia Tymoshenko, the former prime minister who is running for president in Ukraine’s May 25 election, traveled to Donetsk on Monday. “These people,” she said of the militants, “can be divided into two categories: The first are representatives and members of the Russian Federation's special forces, the second are people hired by them, and they behave in quite an aggressive way." | |
| She said she is convinced that the residents of the city are solidly against war and annexation by Russia. | |
| Ukrainian news agencies reported allegations that Rinat Akhmetov, one of the country’s richest men and the overseer of a coal empire in Donetsk, is bankrolling the separatist agitators. Akhmetov has long been close to ousted former president Viktor Yanukovych, who fled to Russia in February. | |
| The union representing the coal miners, who were once a powerful political force but have been reduced by years of cutbacks, said Monday that they do not support any move that would divide Ukraine. | |
| For the past few weekends, pro-Russia demonstrations in Kharkiv, Donetsk and Luhansk had been orderly and diminishing in size. But on Sunday, they turned dangerous when crowds broke off and began to occupy government buildings in the three cities. | |
| “Yesterday, a second wave of the Russian Federation’s special operation against Ukraine started,” acting President Oleksandr Turchynov told the nation Monday in a televised address. “The goal is to . . . topple Ukrainian authorities, disrupt the elections and to tear our country apart.” He charged that “enemies of Ukraine are trying to repeat the Crimean scenario,” but he vowed that they would not succeed and that “an antiterrorist operation will take place against those who took up weapons.” | “Yesterday, a second wave of the Russian Federation’s special operation against Ukraine started,” acting President Oleksandr Turchynov told the nation Monday in a televised address. “The goal is to . . . topple Ukrainian authorities, disrupt the elections and to tear our country apart.” He charged that “enemies of Ukraine are trying to repeat the Crimean scenario,” but he vowed that they would not succeed and that “an antiterrorist operation will take place against those who took up weapons.” |
| Turchynov said those taking part in the violence were committing “a serious crime,” and he warned that “we will act appropriately and decisively against the criminals.” | Turchynov said those taking part in the violence were committing “a serious crime,” and he warned that “we will act appropriately and decisively against the criminals.” |
| In Donetsk, a group of people who broke into the regional administration building and spent the night there announced Monday that they were setting up a Donetsk People's Republic. They and others who occupied buildings in Kharkiv were demanding a Crimean-style referendum. | In Donetsk, a group of people who broke into the regional administration building and spent the night there announced Monday that they were setting up a Donetsk People's Republic. They and others who occupied buildings in Kharkiv were demanding a Crimean-style referendum. |
| The situation in Kharkiv appeared particularly dangerous after pro-Ukrainians from Kiev reportedly headed to the city early Monday. Fights were breaking out in Kharkiv’s main square Monday, local reporters said. | |
| In Luhansk, police said some demonstrators entered the security services headquarters and seized guns. Police responded by setting up roadblocks around the city. | In Luhansk, police said some demonstrators entered the security services headquarters and seized guns. Police responded by setting up roadblocks around the city. |
| In a meeting with reporters Monday, Foreign Minister Andrii Deshchytsia said the interior minister, the heads of the Security Service and the National Security Council, and a deputy prime minister had gone to eastern Ukraine to bring the situation under control. | In a meeting with reporters Monday, Foreign Minister Andrii Deshchytsia said the interior minister, the heads of the Security Service and the National Security Council, and a deputy prime minister had gone to eastern Ukraine to bring the situation under control. |
| “The response will be tough,” he said, in contrast to what happened in Crimea. There, Russia sent in well-disciplined troops, in uniforms without insignia, who began to take over the peninsula by occupying the regional parliament building in Simferopol early Feb. 27, the day the unprepared new government was taking office in Kiev following the ouster of Yanukovych. | |
| “I want to address the citizens of eastern Ukraine,” Yatsenyuk said. “It's obvious that the anti-Donetsk, anti-Kharkiv scenario is playing now. And all the troops still mass on Ukraine's border, but we won't let foreign troops enter Ukraine." | |
| Russia denied that it was at fault. | Russia denied that it was at fault. |
| “Stop pointing at Russia and blaming it for all of Ukraine’s current misfortunes!” the Russian Foreign Ministry said Monday in a statement on its Web site. “The Ukrainian people want Kiev to provide a coherent answer to all questions. . . . If the political forces who call themselves ‘Ukrainian leadership’ remain irresponsible toward the future of their country and toward the fate of their own people, Ukraine will continue running into new problems and crises.” | “Stop pointing at Russia and blaming it for all of Ukraine’s current misfortunes!” the Russian Foreign Ministry said Monday in a statement on its Web site. “The Ukrainian people want Kiev to provide a coherent answer to all questions. . . . If the political forces who call themselves ‘Ukrainian leadership’ remain irresponsible toward the future of their country and toward the fate of their own people, Ukraine will continue running into new problems and crises.” |
| Thousands of Russian troops have been camped along the eastern Ukrainian border for days, and officials in Kiev fear that Moscow has been promoting separatist sentiment and demonstrations so it could move across the frontier on the pretext of restoring order and protecting a largely Russian-speaking population. Russian officials deny that they have any intention of invading Ukraine and say their troops are on routine maneuvers. | |
| In Moscow, the head of the defense and security committee of the upper house of parliament said Russia could not send peacekeepers into Donetsk, as the militants asked, without approval from the United Nations Security Council — which is highly unlikely. | |
| Viktor Ozerov told the Interfax news agency that a country cannot simply send in peacekeeping troops at the request of local authorities. He said the Russian legislature authorized the use of troops in Crimea out of a perceived need to enhance security at Russian military bases there and under the terms of the agreement Russia signed with Ukraine to keep those bases. Ukrainian officials sharply dispute that point. | Viktor Ozerov told the Interfax news agency that a country cannot simply send in peacekeeping troops at the request of local authorities. He said the Russian legislature authorized the use of troops in Crimea out of a perceived need to enhance security at Russian military bases there and under the terms of the agreement Russia signed with Ukraine to keep those bases. Ukrainian officials sharply dispute that point. |
| Ozerov said Russian peacekeepers have been stationed in two regions that broke away from Georgia — Abkhazia and South Ossetia — under the framework of a grouping of former Soviet republics called the Commonwealth of Independent States. | Ozerov said Russian peacekeepers have been stationed in two regions that broke away from Georgia — Abkhazia and South Ossetia — under the framework of a grouping of former Soviet republics called the Commonwealth of Independent States. |
| “Russia has no right to do this unilaterally,” he said. | “Russia has no right to do this unilaterally,” he said. |
| The Kiev government did not manage to organize resistance to the Crimean takeover, which was backed by a Russian propaganda campaign that described Russian-speakers in the region as under threat from fascists who were on their way from Kiev to wreak havoc. In a quickly arranged referendum March 16, Crimeans voted to join Russia, which promptly annexed the region. | |
| “We call them political tourists,” Deshchytsia said, describing the instigators of the violence in eastern Ukraine. He said the ringleaders cross the Russian border with eastern Ukraine and inspire separatist actions. “Most of these provocations were most likely done by political tourists. The number is lower than a few weeks ago, but they are more active now.” | |
| The new government in Kiev took over after Yanukovych fled Feb. 22. He was toppled by protesters who took to Kiev’s Independence Square, known as the Maidan, in a demonstration that began in favor of European integration and turned into a demand for good government and a fight against corruption. | The new government in Kiev took over after Yanukovych fled Feb. 22. He was toppled by protesters who took to Kiev’s Independence Square, known as the Maidan, in a demonstration that began in favor of European integration and turned into a demand for good government and a fight against corruption. |
| Yanukovych comes from Donetsk, and the foundation of his political support was built in the east. | Yanukovych comes from Donetsk, and the foundation of his political support was built in the east. |
| In Crimea, where Ukrainian troops have been withdrawing, a Russian soldier shot a Ukrainian naval officer to death, a spokesman for the Ukrainian military said Monday. The Ukrainian major reportedly was packing to leave the Mykolaev region when an argument broke out and the Russian fired, the spokesman said. | In Crimea, where Ukrainian troops have been withdrawing, a Russian soldier shot a Ukrainian naval officer to death, a spokesman for the Ukrainian military said Monday. The Ukrainian major reportedly was packing to leave the Mykolaev region when an argument broke out and the Russian fired, the spokesman said. |
| Englund reported from Moscow. | Englund reported from Moscow. |