Blasts, fierce fighting in Donetsk between pro- and anti-Kiev demos (VIDEO, PHOTOS)
There's gunfire, explosions and brutal clashes in the city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine as fighting erupted between pro- and anti-govt protesters, RT’s stringer reports from the scene.
Video in a minute, pro-Russia and pro-Ukraine demos have met, and it's ugly. #Donetskpic.twitter.com/ODfvGmhHHk
— GrahamWPhillips (@GrahamWP_UK) April 28, 2014
14 people have asked for medical assistance, with several
hospitalized, after clashes in Donetsk, the regional
administration told Interfax-Ukraine news agency.
According to Novosti Donbassa (Donbas News), eight people have
been taken to the city’s Kalinin hospital after violence broke
out.
The website also reports of a policeman being shell-shocked due
to handmade grenade exploding near him.
Pro- and-anti-Kiev protest rallies took place simultaneously in the city.
According to RT’s stringer Graham Phillips, there were plenty of masked young men on both sides, and they were clearly looking for a fight.
The police failed to contain the crowd as protesters clashed with each other, using firecrackers, smoke grenades, baseball bats and sticks.
A group of about 1,000 “neo-Nazi thugs” has come to Donetsk from
Dnepropetrovsk on Monday to cause provocations, the press-service
of the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Donetsk told RT.
“We were expecting an attack. We had objective information.
Really, the guys arrived with baseball bats, sticks and rods.
Those were the ultras from Dnepropetrovsk, FC Dnipro
Dnipropetrovsk supporters. According to our info, there were also
people from FC Dynamo Kyiv fan base. I have no information of any
Right Sector involvement,” Vitaly Ivanov, a press-service
member, who was at the scene, stressed.
Initially, there were about 200 local anti-Kiev activists, who
went out “to meet them halfway in order to regain the
initiative”, he said.
“More and more people joined us at an incredible pace as we made
our way… When we reached them [pro-Kiev radicals], there were
around 1,000 of us,” Ivanov said.
According to him, the ultras were “surrounded by the police,
which was brought, especially, for the occasion” as the
officers on the scene were from Kirovograd region, but not from
the Donetsk force.
“We were received with aggression. Smoke grenades were thrown
at us. Several people got injured. Then there were a couple of
small scuffles with the ultras. And then they just dispersed.
They didn’t expect such a rebuff; that there’ll be so many of
us,” he said.
There were around 2,000 pro-Kiev demonstrators, who were marching
on one of the main streets of the city, RT’s Paula Slier reports
from Donetsk.
When they crossed paths with a smaller rally of anti-government
protesters, violent clashes erupted, she said.
“I was among the group that is anti-Kiev. What I saw was both
sides with their faces covered. There were Molotov cocktails and
stones being thrown... Among the anti-Kiev crowd people were
shouting: ‘Crimea! Donbass! Russia!” Slier reported.
There are injuries, and scenes of absolute brutality as both sides clash with each other here in #Donetskpic.twitter.com/EvGYZOf6M8
— GrahamWPhillips (@GrahamWP_UK) April 28, 2014
