Ukraine turmoil LIVE UPDATES

Pro-Russia protesters gather in front of a barricade outside a regional government building in Donetsk, April 10, 2014. (Reuters / Konstantin Chernichkin)

Ukrainian coup-imposed authorities have their hands full with various problems. The country’s eastern regions remain in turmoil, with protesters demanding autonomy from the capital, and economic perils are aggravated by an imminent gas debt crisis.

Saturday, April 12

17:43 GMT:

Anti-Maidan protesters have occupied police offices in the town of Kramatorsk, Donbass region, reports Itar-TASS. Some 50 armed protesters entered the building and several shots were heard, but witnesses and hospitals did not report any injuries.
A spontaneous rally in front of the building has gather around 1,000 people.
Kramatorsk is home to roughly 165,000 people.

17:08 GMT:

Pro-Maidan protesters are gathering near Taras Shevchenko monument in Kharkov, Interfax-Ukraine reports, stressing that there are mostly members of ultra-right organizations, but there are also women, seniors. At the same time, there is a crowd of supporters for the region’s greater autonomy from Kiev protesting on Freedom Square, just walking distance away from the Taras Shevchenko monument.

17:02 GMT:

Ukraine's acting president called an emergency meeting of Kiev's national security council on Saturday after pro-Russian separatists seized control of government buildings in the eastern city of Slavyansk.
"At 9 p.m. (1800 GMT) a meeting will take place of the Ukrainian council of security and defense because of the situation in the east of Ukraine," a spokeswoman for Acting President Aleksandr Turchinov said. (Reuters)

16:39 GMT:

Police have detained four men in Kharkov train station after a sniffer dog reacted to a box they were carrying. The men refused to show what was inside. It’s believed the contents of the box resembled a hand-made explosive device. The men, aged from 19 to 33 years old, are citizens of Lvov, Kiev and Kharkov regions.

15:46 GMT:

Thousands are rallying in the eastern city of Kharkov for a united Ukraine.

15:26 GMT:

Over 100 people have rallied in the Estonian capital, Tallinn, near the Russian embassy in support of Crimea. Traditional Russian St. George’s ribbons were handed out by the organizers, while the protesters chanted: “Crimea was, is, and will be Russia,” “US hands off Ukraine,” and “Say NO to double standards!”

15:04 GMT:

The regional police chief of Donetsk, Konstantin Pozhidayev, said Saturday he was quitting his post after the protesters urged him to step down.

15:04 GMT:

There are no Russian agents operating in southern and southeastern Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a telephone conversation with the acting Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Andrey Deshchitsya. He accused Moscow of sending agents to these regions in attempt to destabilize the situation. Lavrov said that the same accusations were earlier made by Washington, but no facts were given. The Russian minister urged the current Ukrainian authorities to engage in dialogue with the authorities of the regions gripped by the unrest.

13:59 GMT:

Preparations for the meeting between the US, the EU, Russia and Ukraine are proceeding, but there is no common understanding regarding its agenda or its format, Russian Foreign Ministry Sergey Lavrov said, adding that Russia is waiting for the US reaction to Moscow’s proposals.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry says it is “unacceptable” that Ukraine’s cabinet of ministers will represent all regions “including Crimea.”

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs building on Smolenskaya Square, Moscow. (RIA Novosti/Andrey Telichev)

13:57 GMT:

Donetsk special forces have supported the anti-Maidan activists, RIA Novosti reported. “We won’t use force against peaceful protesters and we won’t obey Kiev authorities because we don’t know who is legitimate there,” said a member of the special forces who arrived at the Donetsk administration building blocked by anti-Maidan protesters.