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| Ukrainian police move against pro-Russian demonstrators in Kharkiv | Ukrainian police move against pro-Russian demonstrators in Kharkiv |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| KIEV, Ukraine — | KIEV, Ukraine — |
| Police began removing the pro-Russian demonstrators occupying eastern Ukrainian government buildings early Tuesday after a tense night of confrontation that officials here accused Moscow of provoking to seek a pretext for invasion. | Police began removing the pro-Russian demonstrators occupying eastern Ukrainian government buildings early Tuesday after a tense night of confrontation that officials here accused Moscow of provoking to seek a pretext for invasion. |
| Protesters were cleared from the regional administration in Kharkiv, Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said, although they remained entrenched Tuesday in similar government offices in Donetsk, where protesters erected a barricade of tires and barbed wire. | Protesters were cleared from the regional administration in Kharkiv, Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said, although they remained entrenched Tuesday in similar government offices in Donetsk, where protesters erected a barricade of tires and barbed wire. |
| “The Kharkiv night was infinitely long,” Avakov wrote on Facebook. He said protesters threw stun grenades at National Guard soldiers and set a fire in the building’s lobby. Firefighters put out the blaze. | “The Kharkiv night was infinitely long,” Avakov wrote on Facebook. He said protesters threw stun grenades at National Guard soldiers and set a fire in the building’s lobby. Firefighters put out the blaze. |
| The West has been warning Russia, which annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in March, against any incursion into eastern Ukraine. “If Russia were to intervene further in Ukraine, it would be a historic mistake,” NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters Tuesday in Paris. “It would have grave consequences for our relationship with Russia and would further isolate Russia internationally.” | The West has been warning Russia, which annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in March, against any incursion into eastern Ukraine. “If Russia were to intervene further in Ukraine, it would be a historic mistake,” NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters Tuesday in Paris. “It would have grave consequences for our relationship with Russia and would further isolate Russia internationally.” |
| Secretary of State John F. Kerry, testifying before a Senate committee Tuesday, said Russian agents were fomenting “contrived” chaos in eastern Ukraine, and he warned of harsh new sanctions if Russia invades. | |
| “It is clear that Russian special forces and agents have been the catalyst behind the chaos of the last 24 hours,” Kerry said. He said the unrest “could potentially be a contrived pretext for military intervention just as we saw in Crimea.” | |
| Kerry warned, “The United States and our allies will not hesitate to use 21st century tools to hold Russia accountable for 19th century behavior.” | |
| In Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday that the United States, not Russia, was responsible for sowing discord in Ukraine. “Our American partners are trying to assess the situation,” Lavrov told reporters, “applying their habits to others.” | In Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday that the United States, not Russia, was responsible for sowing discord in Ukraine. “Our American partners are trying to assess the situation,” Lavrov told reporters, “applying their habits to others.” |
| The Russian Foreign Ministry charged that ultra-nationalists from Ukraine’s Right Sector movement and American mercenaries were among the police that Kiev sent to eastern Ukraine to quell the violence. | |
| “We are particularly concerned that the operation involves some 150 American mercenaries from a private company Greystone Ltd., dressed in the uniform of the [Ukrainian] special task police unit Sokol,” the ministry said in a statement posted on its Web site Tuesday morning. It called for an immediate halt to “all military preparations which could lead to a civil war.” | |
| Ukrainian officials denied that any mercenaries or irregular forces are at work in eastern Ukraine. | |
| “There is no Right Sector, let alone U.S. security forces, in Kharkiv, Donetsk or Luhansk,” Serhiy Pashynsky, chief of the presidential administration in Kiev, said Tuesday. The Foreign Ministry issued a similar denial. | |
| Earlier reports in Russian media identified Greystone as a subsidiary of the private security firm once known as Blackwater and then renamed Academi. | |
| Two weeks ago, Russia’s Itar-Tass news agency quoted Ukrainian government security sources as saying they intended to hire private military personnel from Greystone “to suppress” the eastern, Russian-speaking regions of Ukraine. In early March, Russian state television reported that several hundred armed Greystone men had flown into the Kiev airport. | |
| In Washington, a senior Pentagon official told a House committee Tuesday that the United States is extending the stay of the destroyer USS Truxtun in the Black Sea and will send another ship to the Black Sea in a week. The Truxtun was dispatched last month to conduct training with the Romanian and Bulgarian navies, a mission scheduled before the Ukrainian crisis erupted. | |
| Derek Chollet, assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, told the House Armed Services Committee that in response to a request from the Kiev government, 300,000 MREs, or meals ready to eat, have been delivered to the Ukrainian military, whose forces have in the field for some time. | |
| “While we do not seek military confrontation with Russia,” Chollet said, its “unlawful” takeover of Ukraine’s autonomous Crimea region last month and its continued “military threats” against its neighbors may cause the United States to reexamine its force posture in Europe. | |
| The committee chairman, Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-Calif.), called the events in Ukraine “deeply troubling.” He cited reports that “Russia is provoking further unrest in eastern Ukraine and attempting to create a reason to invade.” He also said that “Russia is rearming at an alarming rate,” with military spending up 30 percent. | |
| The Obama administration has expressed deep skepticism that the scattered uprisings and building takeovers in cities such as Donetsk and Kharkiv were spontaneous. “There is strong evidence suggesting some of these demonstrators were paid,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said Monday. | |
| The sudden uptick in tension, which began Sunday when pro-Russia demonstrations turned violent, has raised fears that Russia is about to try to duplicate its success in annexing Crimea last month. But the United States and other Western countries have warned that they will not stand by if that occurs. | The sudden uptick in tension, which began Sunday when pro-Russia demonstrations turned violent, has raised fears that Russia is about to try to duplicate its success in annexing Crimea last month. But the United States and other Western countries have warned that they will not stand by if that occurs. |
| “If Russia moves into eastern Ukraine, either overtly or covertly, this would be a very serious escalation,” Carney said. | “If Russia moves into eastern Ukraine, either overtly or covertly, this would be a very serious escalation,” Carney said. |
| In Donetsk, several hundred protesters who had occupied a regional administration building declared a “People’s Republic of Donetsk” 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. | In Donetsk, several hundred protesters who had occupied a regional administration building declared a “People’s Republic of Donetsk” 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. | There was little evidence that they enjoy any public support. |
| The Ukrainian government dispatched its highest-level police and security officials to the region Monday in an effort to put down the separatist agitation. | The Ukrainian government dispatched its highest-level police and security officials to the region Monday in an effort to put down the separatist agitation. |
| Kiev is confronting an attempt to “destabilize the situation,” Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said at 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.” | Kiev is confronting an attempt to “destabilize the situation,” Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said at 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.” |
| Kerry, in a call Monday to Lavrov, expressed what a spokeswoman called “great concern” about “escalatory steps” by the Russians. | |
| Jen Psaki, the spokeswoman, said Lavrov agreed in the call to participate in talks with U.S., Ukrainian and European Union officials “in the next 10 days . . . to try and de-escalate the situation.” | Jen Psaki, the spokeswoman, said Lavrov agreed in the call to participate in talks with U.S., Ukrainian and European Union officials “in the next 10 days . . . to try and de-escalate the situation.” |
| In a separate conversation with Ukrainian Foreign Minister | In a separate conversation with Ukrainian Foreign Minister |
| Andrii Deshchytsia, on Monday evening, Lavrov said Kiev must not use force against the pro-Russia activists. | Andrii Deshchytsia, on Monday evening, Lavrov said Kiev must not use force against the pro-Russia activists. |
| According to a Russian Foreign Ministry statement, Lavrov 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.” | According to a Russian Foreign Ministry statement, Lavrov 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.” |
| Russian authorities, however, consider any protest in their country to be illegal if it hasn’t received prior approval. | Russian authorities, however, consider any protest in their country to be illegal if it hasn’t received prior approval. |
| Explosive situation | Explosive situation |
| In Kharkiv, local reporters said a group of armed men stormed the opera house Monday thinking it was the mayor’s office. Fighting in the city continued into the evening, as armed agitators tried to break into the local security agency headquarters, but police said they were eventually turned back. | In Kharkiv, local reporters said a group of armed men stormed the opera house Monday thinking it was the mayor’s office. Fighting in the city continued into the evening, as armed agitators tried to break into the local security agency headquarters, but police said they were eventually turned back. |
| The demonstrators in the city were also demanding a referendum like the one held in Crimea after Russian troops moved into the peninsula. The situation in Kharkiv, where agitators declared a “Kharkiv National Republic,” appeared particularly combustible after pro-Ukrainian activists from Kiev reportedly headed to the city Monday. | The demonstrators in the city were also demanding a referendum like the one held in Crimea after Russian troops moved into the peninsula. The situation in Kharkiv, where agitators declared a “Kharkiv National Republic,” appeared particularly combustible after pro-Ukrainian activists from Kiev reportedly headed to the city Monday. |
| 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 in that city. Akhmetov has long been close to former president Viktor Yanukovych, who fled to Russia in late February after mass demonstrations calling for his removal. Donetsk is Yanukovych’s home town. | 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 in that city. Akhmetov has long been close to former president Viktor Yanukovych, who fled to Russia in late February after mass demonstrations calling for his removal. Donetsk is Yanukovych’s home town. |
| Akhmetov spoke to the Donetsk protesters early Tuesday, offering to help them negotiate an end to their siege. He said he supported government decentralization and making Russian an official state language but denied he endorsed separatism. | Akhmetov spoke to the Donetsk protesters early Tuesday, offering to help them negotiate an end to their siege. He said he supported government decentralization and making Russian an official state language but denied he endorsed separatism. |
| The union representing the coal miners, who were once a powerful political force but have been weakened by years of cutbacks, said Monday that it does not support any move that would divide Ukraine. | The union representing the coal miners, who were once a powerful political force but have been weakened by years of cutbacks, said Monday that it does 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 Sunday, they turned dangerous as crowds broke off and began to occupy government buildings in the three cities. | For the past few weekends, pro-Russia demonstrations in Kharkiv, Donetsk and Luhansk had been orderly and diminishing in size. But Sunday, they turned dangerous as crowds broke off and began to occupy government buildings in the three cities. |
| In Luhansk, police said some demonstrators had entered the security services headquarters and seized guns. Police responded by setting up roadblocks around the city. | In Luhansk, police said some demonstrators had entered the security services headquarters and seized guns. Police responded by setting up roadblocks around the city. |
| Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov told the nation in a televised address Monday that Russia was trying to topple the Kiev authorities and tear the country apart. | Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov told the nation in a televised address Monday that Russia was trying to topple the Kiev authorities and tear the country apart. |
| He charged that “enemies of Ukraine are trying to repeat the Crimean scenario,” but he vowed that they would not succeed. | He charged that “enemies of Ukraine are trying to repeat the Crimean scenario,” but he vowed that they would not succeed. |
| William Branigin in Washington contributed to this report. |