In Donetsk, fighters of the Kharkov “Oplot” captured the city council
Donetsk, April 16 (Navigator, Victoria Litovchenko) – This morning the building of the Donetsk City Council was seized by fighters of the Kharkov “Oplot”, who are demanding a referendum on the territorial status of the Donetsk region.
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About 20 rioters, armed with firearms and bats, entered the city hall building without resistance from law enforcement agencies, reports the Ostrov publication.
Some City Council employees rushed to remove their personal belongings, documents and office equipment, but then, seeing that none of the invaders were showing aggression, they calmed down.
Oplot representatives did not interfere with the meeting of the executive committee. In addition, the rioters allowed the police to return and jointly guard the administrative building.
“Joint work will be organized so that there are no provocations, no illegal actions,” commented the mayor of Donetsk, Alexander Lukyanchik, on the situation. According to him, negotiations are currently underway with the invaders and several rounds have already been held.
“They gave me guarantees that they would ensure, or rather would not interfere with, the work of the executive committee employees,” the mayor said, while expressing hope that the session scheduled for Friday would go smoothly.
According to Lukyanchik, in order for the invaders to leave the City Council building, decisions must be made at the level of the central government in Kyiv.
According to eyewitnesses, the people who seized the building were having lunch peacefully in the dining room. The Ukrainian flag over the city council building was not torn down, and no cases of property damage were recorded.
“Oplot” declares its intention to continue to follow the path of “peaceful occupation” of city council buildings in the Donetsk region.
“Next will be Yenakievo and so on. And we will follow this path,” said the chairman of the structural division of the Kharkov “Oplot” Alexander Zakharchenko, as quoted by the publication “Ostrov”.
In Donetsk, fighters from the Kharkiv "Oplot" battalion seized the city council building.