Key Developments

April 5: Several thousand pro-Russian demonstrators attacked a prosecutor’s office in the town of Mariupol in Donetsk, followed by attacks on Ukrainian government buildings in two Eastern cities–Donetsk and Lukhansk. The attacks followed the Ukrainian government’s announcement that it had arrested members of an armed gang plotting to seize power on April 10 in Lukhansk (the main city of the country’s easternmost province).

April 6: President Oleksandr Turchynov's office said that he had canceled a planned visit to Lithuania this week to take charge over the developing situation in eastern Ukraine. ITAR-TASS subsequently reported that security service officers yielded to  protesters’ demands and released six arrested activists from a pro-Russian organization in Lukhansk.

April 7: Pro-Russian activists occupying regional administration buildings in Donetsk have declared that they represent the “Dontesk People’s Republic” and indicated their intent to hold a secession referendum by May 11. They have requested troop support from Russian President Putin. Meanwhile, Ukrainian PM Yatsenyuk accused Russia of sowing unrest as a pretext for invading the eastern provinces, and accused Putin of planning “to divide Ukraine into parts and to turn part of Ukraine into a territory of slavery under a Russian dictatorship.” In the Crimean village of Novofedorivka, a Russian soldier shot and killed an off-duty Ukrainian naval officer in what appears to have been a personal argument. 

Government Statements:

Speech by NATO Deputy Secretary General Ambassador Alexander Vershbow to the 21st International Conference on Euro-Atlantic Security, Krakow, Poland, “A new strategic reality in Europe,” 4 April 2014

Speech by the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his answers to questions during joint press conference with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, Erlan Idrisov, 3 April 2014

News Items:

James G. Neuger, “NATO Condemns Russia’s ‘Propaganda’ as Lavrov Cries Foul,” Bloomberg Businessweek, 4 April 2014

Mark Silva, “Obama’s Russian Reset Lost in Putin’s Translations,” Bloomberg Businessweek, 4 April 2014

Thomas Grove, “Russia recalls military representative in rebuke to NATO,” Reuters, 3 April 2014

Simon Shuster, “Ukraine and Russia Demonize Each Other With Claims of Terrorism,” Time, 3 April 2014

“Kiev Ignored Independent Sniper Case Assessment – Lavrov,” RIA Novosti, 4 April 2014

Natalia Zinets, Richard Balmforth and Paul Ingrassia, “Ukraine PM says will stick to austerity despite Moscow pressure,” Chicago Tribune, 4 April 2014

Agence France-Press, “Ukraine eyes coal after Russian gas price hike,” GlobalPost, 4 April 2014

Kathy Lally, “Pro-Russian protests diminish in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region,” The Washington Post, 3 April 2014

Kenneth Rapoza, “Russia Helped Ukraine, But Now Ukraine Needs More, IMF's Lagarde Says,” Forbes, 3 April 2014

“EU must be ready with Russia sanctions over Ukraine: UK,” Reuters, 4 April 2014.

Fyodor Lukyanov, “Does Russia need America?,” Russia Beyond the Headlines, 4 April 2014

Sir Rodric Braithwaite, “Is the crisis in Ukraine a plum ripe for picking?,” Russia Beyond the Politics, 3 April 2014