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Ukrainian police move against pro-Russian demonstrators in Kharkiv Ukrainian police remove pro-Russian forces in Kharkiv, while protesters in Donetsk dig in
(about 1 hour later)
KIEV, Ukraine — DONETSK, Ukraine — Police removed pro-Russian demonstrators occupying a building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv early Tuesday, but protesters vowed not to relinquish their hold on the regional administrative center here in Donetsk.
Police began removing pro-Russian demonstrators occupying government buildings in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday, as U.S. and Ukrainian officials warned Russia against provoking unrest there as a pretext to invade. Police in Luhansk, another city in eastern Ukraine, said pro-Russian demonstrators who have seized the security agency headquarters are holding 60 hostages there at gunpoint.
After a tense night of confrontation, protesters were cleared from the regional administration in the eastern city of Kharkiv early Tuesday, Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said, although they remained entrenched in similar government offices in Donetsk, where protesters erected a barricade of tires and barbed wire. The security agency, or SBU, said its investigators had discovered that the building has also been mined with explosives.
Testifying before a U.S. Senate committee Tuesday, Secretary of State John F. Kerry said Russian agents were fomenting chaos in eastern Ukraine, and he warned of harsh new sanctions if Russia invades. That raises the tension considerably in the high-stakes standoff between Ukrainian authorities and the pro-Russian forces that suddenly struck Sunday evening, in what appeared to be a coordinated move in cities across eastern Ukraine.
“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.” In Kiev, the capital, government officials blamed Russia for stirring up the agitation as a prelude to an invasion. Here in Donetsk on Tuesday afternoon, more than a dozen passengers on a flight from Moscow were pulled aside at passport control, as Ukraine attempts to bar those it believes are fomenting trouble.
Kerry warned, “The United States and our allies will not hesitate to use 21st century tools to hold Russia accountable for 19th century behavior.” The situation in Luhansk appeared to be the most critical. The security agency said it had discovered explosives and hostages when it sent in a team to try to clear the building of occupiers.
Avakov wrote on Facebook, “The Kharkiv night was infinitely long.” He said protesters threw stun grenades at National Guard soldiers and set a fire in the administration building’s lobby. Firefighters put out the blaze. “That means they act as terrorists,” the SBU said on its Web site. “These actions are extremely dangerous as they pose threat to the lives of people in the room and to those who are outside. The Security Service of Ukraine demands that the attackers release the hostages, let them freely leave the building, and lay down their arms and clear the administration building.”
As evening fell in Donetsk and people got off from work, the crowd outside the occupied regional administration building swelled to a few thousand. Barricades of tires, automobile bumpers, barbed wire and sandbags rose around the perimeter of the 11-story late-Soviet slab of a building.
The visible police presence was extremely light, and those officers present, in regular uniforms, made no effort to restrict access to the site. Women on the plaza in front of the building merrily chanted “We are here to the end” and “Donetsk is a Russian city.”
A group broke into song, belting out an old favorite from World War II about Katyusha rockets.
But a block away, traffic moved as usual. This is not a city in the grip of secession fever — or anti-secession fever. On a warm spring afternoon, the playgrounds were full of children, couples strolled, shoppers shopped. Politics stops about 100 yards from the center of the action.
Protesters were cleared overnight from the regional administration in Kharkiv, Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said.
“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.”
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.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.”“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.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.“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. Earlier reports in Russian media identified Greystone as a subsidiary of the private security firm once known as Blackwater and later 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.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.
A woman who answered the phone at the Chesapeake, Va., offices of Greystone declined to comment Tuesday. She would identify herself only as “an employee of Greystone.”A woman who answered the phone at the Chesapeake, Va., offices of Greystone declined to comment Tuesday. She would identify herself only as “an employee of Greystone.”
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.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. Derek Chollet, U.S. 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 been 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.“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 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.
“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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
William Branigin and Christian Davenport in Washington contributed to this report.William Branigin and Christian Davenport in Washington contributed to this report.