Ukraine crisis: Odessa detainees freed as police HQ attacked

BBC News online -- 4 May 2014

Police appeared to release detainees in an attempt to calm the crowds

 

Pro-Russian activists have attacked the police headquarters in Ukraine's southern city of Odessa, forcing the release of several people held over deadly violence two days ago.

Friday's clashes led to more than 40 deaths. Most victims were pro-Russian separatists killed when the building they were in caught fire.

Ukraine's interim PM has accused police of failing to prevent the violence.
He was speaking as Ukrainian troops encircled Sloviansk in the east.

The army operation is trying to wrest control from separatists who have taken over a government buildings in a number of towns.

The initially peaceful rally in Odessa on Sunday by hundreds of pro-Russians turned violent as protesters - some wearing masks and carrying improvised weapons - broke windows and forced the gates. 

A number of those detained on Friday were then released by the police, apparently in an attempt to pacify the crowds. There were chants of "Russia, Russia" and "Russians won't abandon their own".

The Daily Telegraph's Roland Oliphant, at the scene, said Ukrainian flags had been pulled down and replaced with the Odessa city flag as tempers flared. Protesters used a lorry to force their way into the police compound.

Reuters news agency quoted police as saying 30 people had been freed.

Protesters broke windows and doors of the police building in Odessa

The clashes broke out after hundreds of protesters called for the release of people detained on Friday

 

Odessa had been observing a day of mourning for those killed on Friday, when running street battles involving petrol bombs led to a fire breaking out on the third floor of a trade union building.

Dozens of pro-Russian activists had barricaded themselves inside. While some were rescued, 38 people either burned, suffocated or jumped to their deaths.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk: "These security forces [in Odessa] are inefficient and violated the law"

Moscow and Kiev have blamed each other's supporters for the fire.
On Sunday, many visited the burned out trade union building, which now has a large Russian flag draped on one wall, to pay tribute.

Interim PM Arseniy Yatsenyuk, who has travelled to Odessa, has ordered a full investigation into what happened, saying the authorities did "nothing to stop this crackdown", and were "inefficient and they violated the law".

He told a news conference that all the senior police in the city had been fired and would be replaced.

Odessa

• City founded in 1794 by Empress Catherine the Great
• Population: 1m
• Ukraine's third largest city
• Hosts Ukrainian naval base
• Population: Ukrainian 62% ethnic Russian 29%

But he said the unrest was "part of a plan fomented by Russia to destroy Ukraine".

"Russia's aim was to repeat in Odessa what is happening in the east of the country," where pro-Russian forces have taken control of government buildings in a number of towns, he said.

Mr Yatsenyuk insisted Kiev had not lost control entirely, saying much would depend on whether local populations "support peace and stability or whether they support those who are sponsored by Russian".