Ukraine Brings Back Military Conscription, Arrests Russian Defense Attache

Ukraine has arrested the Russian defense attache in Kiev and decided to bring back military conscription with immediate effect to deal with a spreading pro-Moscow insurgency in its east.

According to a decree issued Thursday by interim president Oleksandr Turchynov, the country was bringing back military conscription "given the deteriorating situation in the east and the south ... the rising force of armed pro-Russian units and the taking of public administration buildings ... which threaten territorial integrity."

Ukraine's parliament voted on April 17 to "recommend to the acting president to restart conscription into the Ukraine armed forces without delay" in order to "bolster Ukraine's defense capabilities in connection with aggression from the Russian Federation."

Ukraine scrapped compulsory military service for young men only this year, under a law introduced in 2013 by Viktor Yanukovych, the Kremlin-friendly president who ended up fleeing mass pro-Western demonstrations two months ago.

Ukraine currently has 130,000 personnel in its armed forces. With reserves, this could be boosted to around 1,000,000.

The move came after Turchynov said the Western-backed authorities in Kiev were "powerless" to stop pro-Russian separatists in the east from taking over public buildings.

The West and Kiev believe that the unrest is being fomented by Russia in a bid to destabilize the former Soviet Republic ahead of planned presidential elections on May 25.

In another dramatic development, Kiev overnight ordered out a Russian diplomat arrested for espionage, risking a tit-for-tat response from Russia.

Quoting a government statement, local media reports said Wednesday that Ukraine has arrested the Russian defense attache in Kiev, accused him of spying and said he must leave the country.

"The defense attache of the Russian embassy in Ukraine is declared persona non grata," said the statement, adding that the unnamed official had been caught in the act and "arrested."

Also on Thursday, the Kremlin revealed that German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to help free a team of OSCE observers that had been captured in Ukraine.

"Angela Merkel made a request to help facilitate the release of military observers from a number of European countries including Germany that had been detained in the southeast of Ukraine," the Kremlin said following phone talks between the two leaders.

"Both sides noted the importance of utilizing the mediating potential of the OSCE across Ukraine to the maximum degree."

Putin for his part reiterated Moscow's calls for Kiev to pull back troops from the rebel-held east.

"Vladimir Putin stressed that the most important thing today is to withdraw military units from the southeastern regions, stop violence, to immediately launch a wide national dialogue as part of a constitutional reform with the involvement of all regions and political forces."

The Kremlin said the two leaders agreed to speak again shortly.