Ukraine´s armed forces are on “full combat alert” against a possible Russian invasion, Kiev said Wednesday.
Meanwhile rebels stormed the regional police building and town hall in the eastern Ukrainian city of Gorlivka, local officials told the media, adding to more than a dozen locations already under their control.
The new seizure followed clashes in nearby Lugansk on Tuesday, as hundreds of pro-Russia protesters attacked the police station.
On Wednesday, the rebels lifted their siege of the HQ building after the police chief promised to step down, while local media reported pro-Russian militants had seized the council building in the city of Alchevsk without encountering resistance.
Ukraine´s interim president Oleksandr Turchynov told his cabinet that the nation´s law enforcement bodies were “helpless” to prevent the insurgents storming official buildings in the restive east.
He said the nation´s armed forces have been put on “full combat alert” in the face of what he called a “real threat” of Russia starting a war against the former Soviet Republic.
