Pro-Russia forces seize Ukrainian police station

Gleb Garanich/Reuters

Pro-Russia forces seize Ukrainian police station
(Image credit: Gleb Garanich/Reuters)

Various sources are reporting that several dozen men took over a police station in eastern Ukraine this morning, raising a Russian flag and barricading the building:

Ukrainian police say the point of the takeover was the station's gun cache; Kiev claims the militants seized at least 400 handguns and 20 automatic weapons to distribute to pro-Russia protesters. A Reuters photographer on the scene, however, said he had not yet seen any guns distributed.

"(We have) only one demand — a referendum and joining Russia," a militant who gave his name as Sergei told The Associated Press. "We don’t want to be slaves of America and the West. We want to live with Russia."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

While the militants appear to be Ukrainian, the headquarters takeover comes in the wake of a buildup of Russian troops along Ukraine's border, which Russian President Vladimir Putin maintains is part of a military training exercise.

Explore More

Sarah Eberspacher is an associate editor at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked as a sports reporter at The Livingston County Daily Press & Argus and The Arizona Republic. She graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.