Ukraine crisis: combat vehicles with pro-Russian troops enter town

A column of armoured vehicles flying Russian flags drove into a Ukrainian city controlled by pro-Russia insurgents Wednesday, dampening the central government's hopes of re-establishing control over restive eastern Ukraine.

Still, it was far from clear just who these mostly masked men were and what their presence meant for eastern Ukraine, which has seen a surge of support for closer ties with Russia and against the new government in Kiev, which wants closer links to Europe.

The six vehicles with troops in camouflage sitting atop entered the city of Slovyansk, a hotbed of unrest against Ukraine's interim government. Insurgents in Slovyansk have seized the local police headquarters and the administration building, demanding broader autonomy for their eastern Ukraine region and closer ties with Russia. Their actions have been repeated in at least eight other cities in eastern Ukraine.

Eastern Ukraine was the support base for ousted president Viktor Yanukovych, who fled to Russia after months of protests over his decision to back away from closer relations with the European Union and turn toward Russia. Opponents of the government that replaced him allege the new authorities will repress eastern Ukraine's large Russian-speaking population — events which the UN's human rights body says has not happened.

Read more: Ukraine crisis: combat vehicles with pro-Russian troops enter town - World - CBC News

While Ukraine crisis escalates many American's do not even know where Ukraine is located

The British Guardian reports today that pro-Russian activists in Ukraine's industrial centre of Donetsk have proclaimed their independence from Kiev and pledged to hold a referendum in the next month, provoking fears that Moscow could be orchestrating a second Crimea scenario in Ukraine's east.

"Seeking to create a popular, legitimate, sovereign state, I proclaim the creation of the sovereign state of the people's republic of Donetsk," said a man into a loudspeaker outside the seized regional administration building to a cheering crowd.

The protesters said they would hold a referendum no later than 11 May on the region's status, and also asked Russia to ready "peacekeeping troops", in a scenario reminiscent of the events that led to the annexation of Crimea last month.

In Kiev, the interim prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, said events in the east were being carried out according to a script written in Moscow.

But is this "storm in a cup of soup" really important to the US or to Europe for that matter? The Washington post recently reported: "On March 28-31, 2014, we asked a national sample of 2,066 Americans (fielded via Survey Sampling International Inc. (SSI), what action they wanted the U.S. to take in Ukraine, but with a twist: In addition to measuring standard demographic characteristics and general foreign policy attitudes, we also asked our survey respondents to locate Ukraine on a map as part of a larger, ongoing project to study foreign policy knowledge. 

We wanted to see where Americans think Ukraine is and to learn if this knowledge (or lack thereof) is related to their foreign policy views. 

We also found that only one out of six Americans can find Ukraine on a map, and that this lack of knowledge is related to preferences: The farther their guesses were from Ukraine’s actual location, the more they wanted the U.S.  to intervene with military force."

EU-Digest

Ukraine crisis: Pro-Russian movement creeps closer to Kiev

Crowds of pro-Russian demonstrators stormed government buildings Sunday in several major cities in eastern Ukraine, where secessionist sentiment has sparked frequent protests since Ukraine's Russia-friendly president was ousted in February.

In Donetsk, 50 miles west of the Russian border, a large group of people, including many in masks carrying sticks and stones, surged into the provincial government building and smashed windows.

A gathering of several hundred, many of them waving Russian flags, then listened to speeches delivered from a balcony emblazoned with a banner reading "Donetsk Republic." Activists in the building said they want to see a referendum for the Donetsk province to join Russia.

Read more: Ukraine crisis: Pro-Russian movement creeps closer to Kiev - CBS News