Ukrainian authorities announce anti-terror operation in Donetsk and Luhansk

The ultimatum was delivered to the militants, who seized local government headquarters in the regional centres.

The police will regard the protesters in eastern Ukraine as terrorists if the conflict is escalated. The buildings, which were earlier seized in the country's eastern cities, have been blocked by the police. The law-enforcement bodies will act in line with the law on terrorism in case the situation is not resolved peacefully, interim presidential administration chief Serhiy Pashynsky says.

“As of now, the national security office in Luhansk has remained seized for two days. It is blocked by the special purpose forces and squads of the Interior Ministry. The regional administration in Donetsk was also seized. It is blocked by special purpose police squads. If we don't find the necessary words to solve the situation peacefully, we will solve the problem in line with the law on terrorism and other legislative acts within the competence of the law enforcement bodies involved in the operation,” he said.

Donetsk

The protesters in Donetsk are reported to have left the national security office following the statement, but they refuse to leave the administration building. They called on city residents to gather near the administration building, occupy the key sites around the city, stop the work of banks and block traffic, Korrespondent reports.

The authorities used military vehicles to block all roads to the city. In particular, activists say that “accesses to Donetsk are blocked. There are military equipment in the fields enough to take the Rostov region, not only Donetsk.”

“People here have a storm plan and want to drag out negotiations to prepare the seizure of the administration building on Kharkiv's scenario. We don't believe the police. They already betrayed us in Kharkiv,” the activists write on a social networking site.

Luhansk

The separatists, blocked in the national security office in Luhansk, say they prepare the creation of the “parliament of the Luhansk Republic”. The statement was made by their representative on the porch of the building, the local Obzor website writes.

She said the activists were working to form the “parliament”. The website 0642 writes residents of Crimea are in the building too.

Journalists say the separatists are aggressive and attack people for attempts to film.

Some people are waving flags on the roof of the national security building. Others strengthen the barricades around the building.

Aggressive young men, shouting pro-Russian slogans, tried to take over the government buildings in Luhansk, Kharkiv and Donetsk on April 6.

The separatists seized the regional administration building in Kharkiv, attacked and damaged the ATN TV office and beaten participants of the rally for united Ukraine on April 6—7. The local police showed little resistance, so special police units from other Ukrainian regions arrived in the Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv regions on April 7. The Jaguar special police unit gained control over the administration building in Kharkiv without shots and victims. About 70 people were detained and taken to detention facilities in Kyiv and Poltava.