Ukraine crisis takes dangerous turn: Russia

An armed man speaks to pro-Russian protesters at the police headquarters in Slaviansk, April 12, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

Ukraine crisis

MOSCOW - The situation in southeastern Ukraine is taking a dangerous turn, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Sunday.

A security officer and a pro-Russia activist were killed Sunday during a raid launched by Ukrainian special forces in an eastern city, where pro-Russia gunmen seized buildings of police and security services a day earlier.

Russian foreign ministry called it "outrageous" the Ukrainian acting President Alexandr Turchynov's order to use the armed forces for quelling protests.

"The Russian side is bringing up the crisis in southeastern Ukraine for urgent discussion at the UN Security Council and the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe)," the ministry said in an online statement.

Russia demanded that the Maidan organizers "who overthrew the legitimate president" immediately stop the war against their own people and fulfill all obligations under the Feb 21 agreement.

Meanwhile, Moscow urged the Maidan party's Western sponsors as well as the United States to "subdue their unruly followers, make them distance themselves from the neo-Nazis and other extremists," it added.

Russia called for an end to the use of the military against the Ukrainian people and the start of a national dialogue for the sake of early and radical constitutional reform in Ukraine, said the ministry.

A new wave of unrest erupted in Ukraine's east last weekend, when pro-Moscow activists seized several government buildings in the cities of Donetsk, Lugansk and Kharkov, demanding a referendum on autonomy and closer ties with Russia.

On March 18, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Crimean leaders signed a treaty to make the southern peninsula part of Russian territory after almost 97 percent of Crimean voters backed secession from Ukraine in a referendum.

Kiev has rejected the referendum and Crimea's integration with Russia, saying it was unconstitutional.

Armed men seize two government buildings in eastern Ukraine	Ukraine moves to end separatist grip on eastern town