Turchynov: Ukrainian security forces continue operation in Donetsk and Luhansk

Ukrainian security forces special operation continues in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. pParliament appointed Acting President Oleksandr Turchynov announced at a meeting of the Verkhovna Rada.

He also suggested that the organizers of the referendums in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which took place May 11, should be criminally liable.

The EU will provide 1.6 billion euro to Kiev

A delegation of the Verkhovna Rada-appointed Cabinet of Ministers will sign a number of “very important documents” in Brussels on Tuesday, including “an agreement on a 1.6 billion-euro loan to Ukraine,” Ukraine’s interim President Oleksandr Turchynov said.

“A government delegation led by (the Verkhovna Rada-appointed) prime minister is working in Brussels today where very important documents are planned to be signed, in particular, an agreement on the provision of quite a serious financial resource of 1.6 billion euros to Ukraine,” he said.

The Ukrainian delegation will also “discuss the issues of simplifying the visa regime between the EU and Ukraine,” he said.

Punitive operation in Ukraine

Earlier, the representative said the Ukrainian authorities were conducting a full-scale sweep operation in Sloviansk, using aircraft and landing troops against civilians. Ten civilians and self-defense activists were killed and 25 people wounded as a result of the punitive operation carried out by Ukrainian servicemen near Sloviansk (Donetsk region). 

The death toll from the bloodshed in the Ukrainian Black Sea port city of Odessa has risen to 48. Rioting in Odessa began on May 2 when football fans arriving from Kharkov, eastern Ukraine, as well as activists from the radical Right Sector movement and members of the so-called Maidan self-defence forces from Kiev staged a march along city streets.

Massive protests against the new Ukrainian authorities, who were propelled to power in Kiev amid riots during a coup in Ukraine in February, erupted in Ukraine’s Russian-speaking southeastern regions in March after Crimea's incorporation by Russia. Demonstrators, who are demanding referendums on the country’s federalization, seized some government buildings.The action culminated in clashes with supporters of Ukraine’s federalization, during which radical activists set fire to the regional Trade Unions House and a tent camp on Kulikovo Pole Square, where activists were collecting signatures in favour of a referendum on Ukraine’s federalization and the state status of the Russian language.

The Kiev authorities have been conducting an antiterrorism operation in eastern Ukraine. Russia, which does not recognize the de facto Ukrainian leaders brought to power by the coup, has condemned the operation, apparently aimed to crack down on Ukrainian nationals supporting federalization.

Crimea's urge to reunify with Russia was caused by the republic's refusal to accept the new Kiev authorities. In a March 16 referendum, Crimeans overwhelmingly voted to secede from Ukraine and accede to Russia. The reunification deal with Moscow was signed March 18.

In the Soviet Union, Crimea used to be part of Russia until 1954, when it was gifted to Ukraine by Soviet Communist Party leader Nikita Khrushchev.