After New Sanctions on Russia, Ukraine Moves Closer to Civil War
By Barry Grey
Global Research
April 30, 2014
Pro-federalization activists in the southeastern Ukrainian town of Konstantinovka have declared a rally inside a seized government building that they said will continue until a referendum on the region’s status is held. Source: RIA Novosti
In the wake of new sanctions against Russia imposed by Washington and its G7 allies in Europe, Canada and Japan, the rebellion in eastern Ukraine against the US puppet government in Kiev has spread, plunging the country closer to civil war and increasing the danger of a military confrontation between the Western powers and Moscow.
On Monday, the day the US outlined stepped-up penalties targeting Russian officials, oligarchs close to President Vladimir Putin and companies linked to Putin’s inner circle, pro-Russian militants captured the city council building and police station in Konstantinovka and demanded a referendum on autonomy from the regime in Kiev.
The same day, a demonstration by pro-regime Ukrainian nationalists in Donetsk was broken up by anti-government protesters, sending 14 people to the hospital. Later in the day, Gennady Kernes, the mayor of Kharkiv, was shot in the back by an unknown assailant. He was moved to an Israeli hospital, where he remains in critical condition.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry announced that one Ukrainian soldier was killed by an explosion in the Donetsk region and another wounded.
On Tuesday, a crowd of people numbering between 1,000 and “thousands,” according to various reports, stormed the regional government building in Luhansk, an industrial city of nearly 500,000 residents situated 25 kilometers west of the Russian border. Activists proclaimed the “People’s Republic of Luhansk” and announced plans to hold a referendum on autonomy on May 11, the same day the neighboring “People’s Republic of Donetsk” plans to hold its own referendum.
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