Kiev threatens force against eastern Ukraine protesters

Published time: April 09, 2014 13:54

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Supporters of a referendum on the region's status rally outside the Security Service of Ukraine headquarters in Lugansk. (RIA Novosti / Yuri Streltsov)

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Ukraine’s acting Interior Minister is threatening to resolve “in 48 hours” the situation in eastern regions where administrations of at least two cities are controlled by protesters demanding a nationwide referendum on the state structure.
Arsen Avakov told journalists on Wednesday that the coup-imposed government is ready to use force in the mutinous eastern regions.
"There are two solutions: a political one through negotiations or through force,” the minister said on the margins of a government meeting.
“For those who want dialogue, we propose talks and a political solution. For the minority who want conflict they will get a forceful answer from the Ukrainian authorities,” he said as quoted by Reuters, adding that in his opinion a “solution to the crisis could be found within 48 hours.”
The minister informed that a special police task force from western regions of Ukraine has already arrived in Donetsk, Lugansk and Kharkov, cities where protests against the new government in Kiev have been continuing for weeks now.
On Monday, popular assemblies in Donetsk and Kharkov, where local administration headquarters were captured by protesters, declared independence from Ukraine and announced the creation of the independent Donetsk People’s Republic and Kharkov People’s Republic.

Last night, the police force that arrived from Kiev managed to recapture the local administration in Kharkov, arresting approximately 60 activists and bringing them to a detention center in Kiev. Armed with automatic weapons and masked law enforcement officers stormed the building on early morning and cleared the central square of protesters.
In Kharkov about 30 percent of policemen refused to storm the administration. Avakov has already announced that they will be fired.
A journalist of Russia’s Lifenews TV channel reported from the central square of Kharkov that according to evidence witnessed by the local citizens, some police officers dressed in uniforms of the Jaguar riot police task force seem unable to understand when addressed in either Ukrainian or Russian. They reportedly communicate with each other in English.
In Donetsk the buildings of power structures remained under control of the protesters as some police officers refused to counteract protesters.