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| Mayor in eastern Ukraine shot as pro-Russian militants gain ground | Mayor in eastern Ukraine shot as pro-Russian militants gain ground |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| DONETSK, Ukraine — The mayor of Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine, was shot in the back Monday while taking a morning swim and is now in surgery “fighting for his life,” according reports from city council members and Ukrainian media. | DONETSK, Ukraine — The mayor of Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine, was shot in the back Monday while taking a morning swim and is now in surgery “fighting for his life,” according reports from city council members and Ukrainian media. |
| Kharkiv Mayor Gennady Kernes is known through social media as a flamboyant character who was a staunch supporter and beneficiary of ousted Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych. | Kharkiv Mayor Gennady Kernes is known through social media as a flamboyant character who was a staunch supporter and beneficiary of ousted Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych. |
| Kernes has swiveled his allegiance and now maintains civil relations with the new Ukrainian government in Kiev. His city was a hotbed of pro-Russian activists, but in recent weeks Kernes and police managed to retake government buildings once occupied by separatists. | Kernes has swiveled his allegiance and now maintains civil relations with the new Ukrainian government in Kiev. His city was a hotbed of pro-Russian activists, but in recent weeks Kernes and police managed to retake government buildings once occupied by separatists. |
| On Monday evening, a pro-Ukraine rally was broken up by club- and knife-wielding separatists who ambushed the peaceful crowd as it marched through the center of Donetsk, eastern Ukraine’s regional capital. Government security forces did little to stop the violence. | |
| Protesters who had been singing Ukraine’s national anthem and chanting for unity were rushed to the hospital with blood dripping from head wounds. | |
| “These separatists are mentally diseased,” said Evgeniy Smirnov, a 62-year-old retiree whose skull was wrapped in bloody bandages. “We never had attacks with knives and bats in Donetsk before this.” | |
| Amid the escalating violence, the United States on Monday announced additional sanctions “in response to Russia’s continued illegal intervention in Ukraine and provocative acts that undermine Ukraine’s democracy and threaten its peace, security, stability, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.” | Amid the escalating violence, the United States on Monday announced additional sanctions “in response to Russia’s continued illegal intervention in Ukraine and provocative acts that undermine Ukraine’s democracy and threaten its peace, security, stability, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.” |
| Charging that Moscow has failed to live up a commitment to de-escalate the situation in Ukraine, the White House said the United States “is imposing targeted sanctions on a number of Russian individuals and entities and restricting licenses for certain U.S. exports to Russia.” | Charging that Moscow has failed to live up a commitment to de-escalate the situation in Ukraine, the White House said the United States “is imposing targeted sanctions on a number of Russian individuals and entities and restricting licenses for certain U.S. exports to Russia.” |
| The assassination attempt Monday was preceded by an assault to the south, where armed militants seized another government building in a new city as they expanded their pro-Russian campaign across eastern Ukraine. | The assassination attempt Monday was preceded by an assault to the south, where armed militants seized another government building in a new city as they expanded their pro-Russian campaign across eastern Ukraine. |
| The masked, armed gunmen who took the building in Kostyantynivka wore camouflage and carried automatic weapons, according to local media reports. They were described as a more serious-looking group than the usual citizens’ militias in eastern Ukraine, whose members usually wear baseball caps and carry metal pipes. | The masked, armed gunmen who took the building in Kostyantynivka wore camouflage and carried automatic weapons, according to local media reports. They were described as a more serious-looking group than the usual citizens’ militias in eastern Ukraine, whose members usually wear baseball caps and carry metal pipes. |
| The attack on Kernes came a day after seven European military officers and a translator, held hostage by pro-Russia separatists, were paraded before the news media. Hours earlier, three captured Ukrainian security agents were shown on Russian television huddled in a room, blindfolded and bloody, without pants, their arms bound with packing tape. | The attack on Kernes came a day after seven European military officers and a translator, held hostage by pro-Russia separatists, were paraded before the news media. Hours earlier, three captured Ukrainian security agents were shown on Russian television huddled in a room, blindfolded and bloody, without pants, their arms bound with packing tape. |
| The Ukraine Security Service said Monday that pro-Russian separatists now hold more than 40 hostages in eastern Ukraine, most of them jailed in the breakaway city of Slovyansk. | The Ukraine Security Service said Monday that pro-Russian separatists now hold more than 40 hostages in eastern Ukraine, most of them jailed in the breakaway city of Slovyansk. |
| In a statement, the agency named one leader of the separatist movement as a former colonel in the Russian army and said he was wanted for his alleged role in capturing the team of seven military observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Another man named by Ukrainian security is a former officer in the Soviet army who fought in Afghanistan and Chechnya and who is being sought for alleged involvement in the torture and murder of a local pro-Kiev politician. | In a statement, the agency named one leader of the separatist movement as a former colonel in the Russian army and said he was wanted for his alleged role in capturing the team of seven military observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Another man named by Ukrainian security is a former officer in the Soviet army who fought in Afghanistan and Chechnya and who is being sought for alleged involvement in the torture and murder of a local pro-Kiev politician. |
| Moscow has denied playing any role in the current crisis in eastern Ukraine and instead has called on the new government in Kiev to restore order and guarantee the safety of Russian-speaking residents in the region. | Moscow has denied playing any role in the current crisis in eastern Ukraine and instead has called on the new government in Kiev to restore order and guarantee the safety of Russian-speaking residents in the region. |
| The group Human Rights Watch said Monday that journalists and political activists are “at increasing risk of political-motivated violence, such as unlawful detention, abduction and assaults” in eastern Ukraine. | The group Human Rights Watch said Monday that journalists and political activists are “at increasing risk of political-motivated violence, such as unlawful detention, abduction and assaults” in eastern Ukraine. |
| On Sunday, pro-Russian activists took control of the state TV center in Donetsk without firing a shot. Members of a separatist movement called the Donetsk People’s Republic, aided by a fight club from Kharkiv, stormed the broadcast facility, saying they were sick of watching news aired through the prism of their enemies in Kiev and demanding an undiluted stream of Russian programming. | |
| The day’s events showed eastern Ukraine slipping further into chaos, with armed separatists openly defying state authority and local police either folding in sympathy or admitting that they felt too intimidated to stop the pro-Russian groups. | The day’s events showed eastern Ukraine slipping further into chaos, with armed separatists openly defying state authority and local police either folding in sympathy or admitting that they felt too intimidated to stop the pro-Russian groups. |
| There was no sign Sunday that the new central government in Kiev was pressing ahead with its “anti-terror” police and military operation to retake buildings and checkpoints in the east occupied by pro-Russian militants. | There was no sign Sunday that the new central government in Kiev was pressing ahead with its “anti-terror” police and military operation to retake buildings and checkpoints in the east occupied by pro-Russian militants. |
| As Moscow and Washington traded blame for a failure to halt the escalation in tension, diplomats moved to try to free the hapless European military monitors. | As Moscow and Washington traded blame for a failure to halt the escalation in tension, diplomats moved to try to free the hapless European military monitors. |
| There were also reports of vehicles being carjacked by pro-Russian activists and of a list circulating at anti-Kiev checkpoints with the photographs of 18 journalists to be arrested on the spot. | There were also reports of vehicles being carjacked by pro-Russian activists and of a list circulating at anti-Kiev checkpoints with the photographs of 18 journalists to be arrested on the spot. |
| The Security Service of Ukraine said three of its officers were captured by pro-Russian militants in the city of Horlivka, where the agents were investigating the recent torture and killing of a local politician and a university student. Both men were supporters of a unified Ukraine. Their bodies were found dumped in a river near Slovyansk. | The Security Service of Ukraine said three of its officers were captured by pro-Russian militants in the city of Horlivka, where the agents were investigating the recent torture and killing of a local politician and a university student. Both men were supporters of a unified Ukraine. Their bodies were found dumped in a river near Slovyansk. |
| Captive in Slovyansk | Captive in Slovyansk |
| In Slovyansk, hard-core separatists staged a news conference to display their captives, who were in Ukraine as part of a military observer mission operating under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. | In Slovyansk, hard-core separatists staged a news conference to display their captives, who were in Ukraine as part of a military observer mission operating under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. |
| “We wish from the bottom of our hearts to go back to our homes as soon and as quickly as possible,” one of the observers, Axel Schneider, a German army colonel, said at the news conference. | “We wish from the bottom of our hearts to go back to our homes as soon and as quickly as possible,” one of the observers, Axel Schneider, a German army colonel, said at the news conference. |
| The captives said that they were not “prisoners” but “guests” of the de facto mayor but that they did not know when they might be released. Their captors said they might use the hostages for a prisoner exchange. | The captives said that they were not “prisoners” but “guests” of the de facto mayor but that they did not know when they might be released. Their captors said they might use the hostages for a prisoner exchange. |
| Schneider said the men had “not been touched” and were in good health. “We are not fighters. We are diplomats in uniform. We came without weapons,” he said. | Schneider said the men had “not been touched” and were in good health. “We are not fighters. We are diplomats in uniform. We came without weapons,” he said. |
| The separatists, saying they had found the observers carrying maps indicating the location of checkpoints, labeled the captives “NATO spies.” | The separatists, saying they had found the observers carrying maps indicating the location of checkpoints, labeled the captives “NATO spies.” |
| German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the parading of the military officers before the news media was “repulsive” and “a breach of all the rules.” He appealed to Russia to pressure the separatists to free the monitors, who were arrested alongside five Ukrainian military officers and a driver. | German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the parading of the military officers before the news media was “repulsive” and “a breach of all the rules.” He appealed to Russia to pressure the separatists to free the monitors, who were arrested alongside five Ukrainian military officers and a driver. |
| Late Sunday, one of the monitors was released into the custody of international negotiators, according to Michael Bociurkiw, an OSCE spokesman. The freed observer was from Sweden and was probably released because he has a serious preexisting medical condition, the spokesman said. | Late Sunday, one of the monitors was released into the custody of international negotiators, according to Michael Bociurkiw, an OSCE spokesman. The freed observer was from Sweden and was probably released because he has a serious preexisting medical condition, the spokesman said. |
| Tepid support for separatists | Tepid support for separatists |
| Support for the separatists in southeastern Ukraine is thin. The government buildings they occupy in towns and cities across the region are often defended by no more than a few dozen protesters, and they have had trouble drawing large crowds. | Support for the separatists in southeastern Ukraine is thin. The government buildings they occupy in towns and cities across the region are often defended by no more than a few dozen protesters, and they have had trouble drawing large crowds. |
| Polls suggest that most people in the region, while favoring greater autonomy, do not want to be absorbed by Russia. | Polls suggest that most people in the region, while favoring greater autonomy, do not want to be absorbed by Russia. |
| Only a few hundred demonstrators turned out for a rally in Donetsk’s Lenin Square on Sunday, despite nearly ideal spring weather and the promise of an appearance by the mysterious “people’s governor.” | Only a few hundred demonstrators turned out for a rally in Donetsk’s Lenin Square on Sunday, despite nearly ideal spring weather and the promise of an appearance by the mysterious “people’s governor.” |
| The crowd — waving Russian and Donetsk People’s Republic flags — offered tepid applause as speaker after speaker railed against the “fascist government in Kiev.” | The crowd — waving Russian and Donetsk People’s Republic flags — offered tepid applause as speaker after speaker railed against the “fascist government in Kiev.” |