Ukraine is to launch a "large-scale anti-terrorist operation" to resist pro-Russian forces, the country's president warned on Sunday following a shootout that claimed one victim in the eastern city of Slaviansk. The threat came after gunmen seized control of government buildings and fuelled international alarm about the escalating crisis.
Events on the ground suggested that the authorities in Kiev – anticipating a repeat of the Russian takeover of Crimea – were rapidly losing control of the situation, while Moscow, which denies any direct involvement in Ukraine, warned of the danger of civil war.
Armed men, widely believed to include Russian commandos, took over buildings in Slaviansk on Saturday and targeted four other cities. Ukraine's interior minister, Arsen Avakov, said a state security officer had been killed and five others wounded. There had been an "unidentifiable number" of casualties on the side of the separatists, Avakov said.
Oleksandr Turchynov, Ukraine's interim president, announced on state television that an amnesty would be granted to anyone who laid down their arms by 6am Monday morning, but he warned: "We're not going to allow Russia to repeat the Crimean scenario in Ukraine's east. Today's Palm Sunday celebrations were marred by aggression and blood. The terrorist troops co-ordinated by the Russian Federation seized a number of government buildings."
Turchynov said the situation was especially dangerous in Slaviansk where "trained criminals, dressed in camouflage and armed with Russian guns", were operating. "The blood of Ukrainian heroes has been shed in a war which the Russian Federation is waging against Ukraine," he said. "The aggressor has not stopped and is continuing to sow disorder in the east of the country."
