Tensions rose in Ukraine’s eastern
regions today as gunmen seized police stations in two cities,
prompting the government in Kiev to pledge a tough response.
About 20 armed people in camouflage gear occupied the
police station of Slovyansk, about 650 kilometers (400 miles)
east of the capital, seizing weapons and taking hostages, the
Interior Ministry said today. The police station in nearby
Krasny Liman was also seized, the Interfax news service said.
Ukraine dispatched special-forces troops to deal with the
situation, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, said on his Facebook
Inc. account.
In an echo of protests in Crimea that preceded Russia’s
annexation of the Black Sea Peninsula, pro-Russia protests have
rattled Ukraine’s industrial heartland. Government buildings
were seized in the cities of Donetsk, Kharkiv and Luhansk, near
the border across which NATO said about 40,000 Russian troops
are massing in combat readiness.
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