Ukraine releases protesters in Odessa ……….Activists storm police headquarters
Ukraine released 67 people on Sunday; who were detained for participating in violent clashes after pro-Russian protesters stormed the police headquarters in Odessa, demanding they be let go. “Based on the decision taken by Odessa’s regional prosecutor’s office and due to the demands of the protesters, 67 people previously detained for participating in mass disturbances on May 2nd in Odessa were released on Sunday,” said a statement on the Ukrainian Interior Ministry’s website. Earlier, hundreds of pro-Russian activists shouting, “Odessa is a Russian city, one for all and all for one,” attacked the police headquarters, forcing open its gate and breaking windows as they called for the release of their detained comrades. In a tense scene filled with arguments but with no shots fired, the separatists took down the Ukrainian flag and convinced the officers to release the detainees, according to a CNN team on the ground. The crowd cheered as the detainees left the police compound, and many were embraced by friends and relatives. Earlier in the day, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk had visited the Black Sea port city, two days after a street battle between Russian supporters and opponents ended in a deadly blaze that killed at least 40 people. Yatsenyuk met with social, political, cultural and economic leaders from the region, his office said. A minute’s silence was held at the start of the meeting for those who died in Friday’s bloodshed, the worst so far in a region that has seen spiraling violence. Speaking to reporters, the prime minister called for unity as he accused those “sponsored by Russian Special Services” for the unrest in the eastern part of his country. He also said that in the last 24 hours there had been a “very active re-location of the troops from Russia to Crimea” — which Moscow annexed in March — but he did not provide details. The violence in eastern Ukraine pits pro-Russian separatists against Ukrainian forces and those who support the new Western-backed government in Kiev. It has escalated into a diplomatic crisis, with Russia demanding an end to what it called Ukrainian aggression and Western powers accusing Moscow of funding the violence. “The process of dialogue had begun, only it was drowned out by the shots from Russian-made Kalashnikovs,” Yatsenyuk said, accusing those behind the unrest in the east of “trying to split our people by history, culture, language, ideology, territory … We can only win through a dialogue and unity.” Seeking to reassure a local population that has grown increasingly weary of the new leaders in Kiev, Yatsenyuk also talked about decentralizing power locally as well as providing guarantees, potentially in the constitution, for minority languages. Many in the east are Russian speakers. (CNN)
