Pro-Moscow Protesters Storm State Building in E. Ukraine, U.S. Calls Violence 'Terrorism'
More than 3,000 pro-Russian protesters stormed the regional administration building in the eastern Ukraine city of Lugansk on Tuesday, as Washington described recent violence in the region as “terrorism.”
A vanguard of around 20 youths armed with metal bars broke a window to get inside the building, which was not protected by police.
They pulled down the building's Ukrainian flag, replacing it with a Russian one, and opened the building's doors to the waiting crowd.
Inside the building's courtyard, around 100 riot police massed together in a defensive position behind their shields in a stand-off with the protesters, who did not immediately attack them.
Pro-Moscow militants in Lugansk, a city of 465,000 inhabitants near the Russian border, seized the local SBU security services building three weeks ago.
Meanwhile, the U.S. embassy in Kiev said Tuesday the recent abduction by rebels of OSCE inspectors and an attack on demonstrators by pro-Russian militants in east Ukraine were acts of "terrorism."
"There is no place for these examples of inhuman behavior in a modern, democratic society. This is terrorism, pure and simple," it said in a statement.
Source: Agence France Presse
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