Over the weekend, unidentified protesters stormed and occupied government buildings and police stations across eastern Ukraine. They now control buildings in at least six towns, including Donetsk, Kharkiv and the port city of Mariupol. Western governments, including the United States, have blamed Russia for the occupations, citing the coordinated manner of the occupations across several cities and the gunmen's professional gear.
Some violence has resulted from the protests, most of it concentrated in the industrial Donetsk region. In the town of Slovyansk, masked gunmen exchanged fire with Ukrainian security forces, leading to casualties on both sides, and set up checkpoints on roads leading to the town. Despite an early attempt to prevent the occupation of buildings and remove protesters, as well as warnings from acting Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov that a full security operation would take place on the morning of April 14, Ukrainian authorities have so far proved unwilling to implement a large-scale crackdown on Russian-backed gunmen and pro-Russian civilians.
Pointing to alleged violations of the rights of Russian speakers in Ukraine, the Kremlin has been pressuring Kiev to move toward federalization. Echoing Moscow's stance, the protesters in eastern Ukraine have demanded a referendum on federalization and called for the release of pro-Russian protesters who were arrested during previous demonstrations. By instigating armed takeovers of buildings throughout eastern Ukraine, Russia is reminding Kiev of its ability to destabilize Ukraine through non-military means and thus its significant leverage ahead of the negotiations with Ukraine and the United States scheduled for April 17 in Geneva.
