DONETSK
Pro-Russian separatists stormed a police station in Ukraine's southern city of Odessa Sunday setting free scores of people who had been detained during and after the clashes in the city Friday.
The separatists rallied in front of the police station and staged a protest demanding the release of those detained. However, a group of people masked and with sticks attacked the building freeing a total of 67 people according to Ukraine's Interior Ministry.
Many died in a building fire Friday in Odessa after pro-Russian militants and football fans rallying in support of Ukrainian unity fought in the city, according to security forces.
One group took shelter in the union building, but became trapped when another group attacked the building with Molotov cocktails, which may have started the fire.
Most trapped inside the building were poisoned by smoke while some died jumping off the building in a bid to escape the inferno the said police.
Ukraine declared two days of mourning after the bloodshed on May 3 and the country’s interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said the police chief in Odessa had been fired over the deadly incidents.
Meanwhile, Muhiddin Kabiri, the leader of the opposition Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan, speaking to Anadolu Agency has said that the situation in Ukraine has gone beyond a conflict between the government and the public, but has instead turned into a platform where the "big powers" fight against each other.
He added that the crisis would also affect central Asian countries as new generations looking to their futures would take note of what is happening in Ukraine and other places and may decide to take matters into their own hands, meaning other governments will face similar situations if they are not ready to make reforms.
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