DONETSK
A pro-Russia group Saturday occupied the State Security Service building in Ukraine's eastern city of Donetsk having broken in without any apparent resistance.
An Anadolu Agency correspondent at the scene said masked men wielding sticks broke down the windows and doors of the building then promptly burnt any official documents they could find along with the Ukrainian flag, raising in its place the flag of the self-proclaimed "People’s Republic of Donetsk."
The separatist crowd then seized the headquarters of a company owned by Donetsk’s Governor, Sergey Taruta. Pro-Russians have long said that they do not recognize Taruta as the governor.
The supporters of the so-called "People’s Republic of Donetsk" are seeking to turn the region into a federal state via a referendum.
Since early April, government buildings and police stations in several eastern Ukraine cities remain under the control of armed pro-Russia groups, demanding regional referendums on joining the Russian Federation.
Meanwhile, the death toll from an "anti-terror operation" by Ukrainian forces against pro-Russia separatists in Kramatorsk has increased to six with 15 injured, according to Kramatorsk Health Department.
Ukrainian local officials maintained that the security offices along with Kramatorsk Radio, Television and Communication and Transmitter Station buildings have been taken back from pro-Russian armed groups. They added that the government's forces are not "in haste" to mount an operation on the seized city council building in Kramatorsk as the separatists occupying the building are using civilian residents as human shields.
However, a huge cloud of smoke was reported over the city as the separatists set a wall of tires and trucks on fire in a bid to repel the Ukrainian army's offensive.
englishnews@aa.com.tr
