The Wall Street Journal reports, "Ukrainian leaders on Monday ripped into Russia for what they said was an effort to tear their country apart with a new burst of unrest, as pro-Russian protesters occupying a government building in the country's east called for a regional referendum on independence.
Acting President Oleksandr Turchynov said he believed the recent events in the east represented "the second wave of Russia's special operation against Ukraine, aimed at destabilization, toppling the current government, thwarting elections and tearing the country apart".
Acting President Oleksandr Turchynov said he believed the recent events in the east represented "the second wave of Russia's special operation against Ukraine, aimed at destabilization, toppling the current government, thwarting elections and tearing the country apart".
Russia has warned repeatedly that it is prepared to intervene to protect Russian speakers in Ukraine's east and south from alleged threats by Ukrainian nationalists. The country has since massed tens of thousands of troops on its western border with Ukraine, according to U.S. and Ukrainian officials.
Ukraine's Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk earlier accused Russia of playing a role in unrest that kicked off Sunday.
"It's absolutely clear to everyone that an anti-Ukrainian, anti-Donetsk, and anti-Kharkiv plan is being implemented. A plan to destabilize the situation, a plan for foreign troops to cross the border and take over the territory of the country, which we will not allow," local news agencies quoted him as saying.
The pro-Russian protests that flared in Ukraine's eastern cities after President Viktor Yanukovych's ouster in late February had appeared to be fading. While the crowds of several hundred demonstrators who occupied a government building in Donetsk were no larger than at other protests in recent weeks, Sunday marked the first time in nearly a month that government buildings had been seized in the eastern region of the country.
On Monday, the occupying protesters proclaimed the creation of the "Donetsk People's Republic," ruled by the self-declared "Supreme Soviet," the Interfax news agency reported. The protesters later voted to call a referendum in the next month on declaring independence, Interfax said. It wasn't clear whether they had enough support to impose their demands, however.
Russian stocks fell sharply following the unrest and then again after the broadcast, with the Micex tumbling 3.3% and the dollar-denominated RTS Index sliding 4.5% The Russian ruble also declined more than 1.0% against the dollar.
Protesters also seized the regional government building in the eastern city of Kharkiv on Sunday. Police said they left the building in Kharkiv overnight after negotiations, but witnesses said some continued to occupy parts of the ground floor on Monday and police had the building surrounded.
Violence also flared in Luhansk, a nearby regional capital where demonstrators seized the local security service building and reportedly secured the release of a half-dozen fellow protesters detained during earlier protests. Ukrainian police later said some of the demonstrators had made off with a cache of weapons from a security service office.
Russia's invasion of Crimea came after a group of armed men seized the local parliament building there and appealed for Russian help. As in Crimea, a majority of people in the east speak Russian, but surveys show less than half want their region to join Russia.
