Anti-Kiev Protest in East after Ukraine Soldiers Kill Attackers

W460

Hundreds of pro-Russian protesters staged a rally in the the eastern city of Mariupol on Thursday after Ukrainian soldiers killed three people during a raid on their barracks.

The three assailants were killed and 13 others wounded when around 300 people attacked the interior ministry troops in the industrial port city overnight with firearms and petrol bombs, according to Interior Minister Arsen Avakov.

After warning shots, the troops fired on the assailants, resulting in the deaths, he said, adding that 63 people were arrested and "Russian cell phones" were seized. No interior ministry troops were hurt.

Hours after the incident, police were inspecting the site of the violence for clues. White chalk marks circled blood spots, broken glass and a bullet casing.

The interior ministry said additional police had been sent to Mariupol and special forces were helicoptered in as reinforcements.

The attack followed the seizure of administrative buildings by pro-Russian separatists in Mariupol and other towns across the restive east of the country.

Hundreds of protesters gathered in front of the occupied city hall which is flying a flag in Russian colors and proclaiming an independent eastern state.

A local pensioner who gave her first name as Alla said she heard the shooting overnight and saw a Ukrainian military helicopter fly overhead as it happened.

"The people who died -- we didn't want that. It was a provocation by Pravy Sektor," she said, referring to an ultra-nationalist group that played a core role in the mass protests in Kiev that forced the ouster in February of president Viktor Yanukovych.

Russian propaganda miscasts Pravy Sektor (meaning "Right Sector") as effectively controlling the interim government in Kiev, stoking hostility against it in eastern Ukraine.

"Our partisans are not armed and would never open fire on people," said Alla, who denied being a separatist but said she wanted continued close ties with Russia.

Another pensioner, Mykola, echoed her words, saying Pravy Sektor was trying to undermine the pro-Russian movement through provocations.

A little away from the protest, though, was a 19-year-old student named Kirill who said that while he saw provocation at play, he believed it was by "Russian special services".

"They want the population to suffer so there is a pretext to send in the (Russian) army," he said. He added that most of his friends were pro-Russian.

Kiev and its Western allies accuse Russian President Vladimir Putin of infiltrating Russian special forces and military intelligence officers into eastern Ukraine to foment trouble.

Putin denies that, but on Thursday admitted that Russian troops had been deployed in the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea before it was annexed by Moscow last month, which he had previously denied.

Kiev has struggled to reimpose its authority over its eastern industrial heartland. A military operation to oust separatists turned into a fiasco on Wednesday when pro-Moscow militants seized at least six armored vehicles.

High-level talks aimed at ending the escalating crisis involving the top diplomats of Russia, Ukraine, the United States and the European Union were being held in Geneva on Thursday.

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