Armed separatists took control of a city in eastern Ukraine on Saturday and Kiev prepared troops to tackle what it called an “act of aggression by Russia”, pushing the conflict between the neighbors into a dangerous new phase.
Pro-Russian activists carrying automatic weapons seized government buildings in Slaviansk, a town about 150 km (90 miles) from the Russian border, and set up barricades on the outskirts of the city.
In Kramatorsk, some 80 km (50 miles) to the north, gunmen seized the police station after a shootout with police,
Government buildings in several other towns in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions were taken over by Pro-Russian activists in moves that were eerily reminiscent of the events that preceded Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula.
Vice President Joe Biden will travel to Kiev on April 22 to show support for Ukraine’s government, the White House said on Saturday. He will be the most senior U.S. official to visit the country since the crisis began there.
The West accuses Russia of destabilizing the region as a pretext to potentially sending in troops to protect the local Russian-speaking population, as it did in Crimea. NATO says Russian armed forces are massing on Ukraine’s eastern border, while Moscow says they are on normal maneuvers.
