‘Anti-Terrorist’ Operation Under Way in Eastern Ukraine
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Ukraine’s security forces began an ‘Anti-Terrorist’ operation in the city of Slavyansk in Eastern Ukraine, the country's interior minister said on Sunday.
"An anti-terrorist operation has begun in Slovyansk. It is being directed by the anti-terrorist center of the state security service. Forces from all the security units of the country have been brought in," Interfax news agency quoted the minister, Arsen Avakov, as saying on his Facebook page on Sunday.
Pro-Russian activists carrying automatic weapons seized government buildings in the town about 150 km from the Russian border on Saturday, and set up barricades on the outskirts of the city.
Avakov also reportedly warned residents in the eastern city to stay indoors, in anticipation of clashes between the gunmen and Ukrainian security forces.
"Pass it on to all civilians: they should leave the centre of town, not come out of their apartments, and not go near the windows," Avakov was quoted as saying.
Outside the town's police headquarters, one of the buildings seized, two military helicopters were flying overhead, according to Reuters.
About a dozen women, who had been in the building when it was seized, were evacuated as soon as Avakov's announcement was made known.
A large group of civilians, many of them elderly women, stood in front of the building, chanting messages of solidarity to the protesters inside, including "Referendum!", a reference to demands for a local poll to be held to determine a separate status for the region.
On the building's forecourt, which itself was barricaded, protesters beat out a defiant tattoo on shields they were carrying.
