Ukraine: pro-Russia activists proclaim independent republic in Donetsk

Protesters occupying government building in eastern city vow to follow Crimea in holding referendum on joining Russia

A masked man holds Russian flag above a barricade at the regional administration building in in Donetsk. Photograph: Alexander Ermochenko/AP

Agencies in Kiev

Monday 7 April 2014 09

Pro-Russian activists occupying a government building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk have proclaimed the creation of a sovereign "people's republic" independent of the capital, Kiev.

The announcement, which was posted on YouTube, was delivered by aprotest spokesperson outside a building currently occupied by several thousand Russia supporters, some of them armed.

"Seeking to create a popular, legitimate, sovereign state, I proclaim the creation for the sovereign state of the People's Republic of Donetsk," the spokesperson said to cheers from the gathered crowd.

The Interfax news agency reported that the self-proclaimed leaders of Donetsk had vowed to hold a referendum on regional sovereignty no later than 11 May. Ukrainian presidential elections have been set for 25 May.

The regional news website Ostrov said the activists wanted to join the Russian Federation in a similar way to the Crimean peninsula.

Ukraine's acting president, Olexander Turchynov, said the separatist call in Donetsk and pro-Russian protests in two other cities in the east of the country was evidence of a "second stage" of Russian operations "playing out the Crimean scenario".

The acting prime minister, Arseny Yatseniuk, told a cabinet meeting in Kiev: "An anti-Ukrainian plan is being put into operation ... under which foreign troops will cross the border and seize the territory of the country."

Pro-Russian protesters remain in control of security service headquarters in the eastern Ukrainian region of Lugansk. Activists vacated an administration building in Kharkiv on Monday after occupying it overnight.

On Sunday, a Russian soldier shot dead a Ukrainian naval officer in eastern Crimea, one of the few fatalities reported since Russia took control of the Black Sea peninsula in March.

The shooting was announced by Ukraine's defence ministry. Russian media said a group of Ukrainian soldiers in the village of Novofedorivka had been drinking and were on their way home when they passed Russian soldiers guarding an entry to the military base where they previously worked, and an argument broke out between the two groups.

"We confirm the death of a Ukrainian officer in the village of Novofedorivka in Crimea," the ministry's press service told Interfax-Ukraine. According to the news agency, the Russian serviceman shot dead the Ukrainian officer near the hostel where the latter lived.

Pro-Russian activists guard a barricade outside the security service building in Donetsk.de Photograph: Alexander Khudoteply/AFP/Getty Images

Dmytro Tymchuk, director of the Centre for Military and Political Studies, said on Facebook on Monday that Russian junior sergeant Ye S Zaitsevv shot a Ukrainian serviceman – whom he named as Major K of military unit No 1100 – twice in the head at point-blank range.

He said Captain A Yermolenko, who was sharing a hostel room with the murdered Ukrainian, was beaten and abducted by Russian troops. Tymchuk said Russian servicemen had also taken the body of the Ukrainian major. A criminal investigation has been opened.

Ukraine's prime minister accused Russia of sowing unrest in his country's eastern provinces as a pretext for dispatching troops across the border.

Speaking at an emergency cabinet meeting on Monday, Arseniy Yatsenyuk said Russia was behind the seizure of several government buildings in eastern regions, which had led to an increase in secessionist sentiment.

"The plan is to destabilise the situation, the plan is for foreign troops to cross the border and seize the country's territory, which we will not allow," he said, adding that people engaged in the unrest had Russian accents.

Yatsenyuk said Russian troops remained stationed within 19 miles (30km) of the frontier.

Earlier in the day, the interior ministry reported that armed gunmen had occupied a security services building in Luhansk, 15 miles west of the Russian border and scene of frequent protests since Ukraine's pro-Moscow president was ousted in February.

Police in Luhansk say they had been put on alert and had blocked all entrances to the city.

A crowd of pro-Russian activists stormed the building on Sunday. Local media reported that demonstrators pelted the building with eggs, and then stones, a smoke grenade and finally a firebomb. The flames were reportedly quickly extinguished. Police said nine people were injured during the assault on the building.

Eastern Ukraine was the heartland of support for Viktor Yanukovych, the president who fled to Russia in February after months of protests. About half of the region's residents are ethnic Russians, many of whom believe Ukraine's acting authorities are Ukrainian nationalists who will oppress Russians.

Ukraine's interim authorities deny they are infringing the rights of the ethnic Russian population. Russia has moved large contingents of troops near the Ukrainian border, amid speculation that unrest in eastern Ukraine could be used as a pretext for a Russian incursion.

Since Crimea held a secession referendum and was annexed by Russia in March, calls for similar votes in Ukraine's east have emerged.