Three protesters were killed in southern Ukraine on Thursday, according to The Star World News. It has been reported that the three pro-Russian protesters were killed and 13 injured during an attempted raid that took place overnight on a Ukrainian National Guard base. Russian troops have been stationed in Crimea for over a decade under an agreement with Ukraine, although the number of forces present in late February 2014 constituted a violation of Ukrainian-Russian treaty agreements.
Ukraine’s authorities reported that a mob of around 300 people that were armed with stun grenades and firebombs became involved in the bloodiest incident to date in the month-long insurgency, according to Herald Net. There a group of masked men tried to take over a military unit. It has been reported that masked men in the crowd were armed with assault rifles and insisted they wanted no bloodshed.
High-level talks were reportedly also held in Geneva and Russian President Vladimir Putin weighed in on his neighbor’s future for hours from Moscow. The southern Ukrainian city lies on the road that runs from Russia along the coast to Crimea, the peninsula that Russia annexed last month. In February 2014, Russian Ground Forces occupied airports and other strategic locations in Crimea. The interim Government of Ukraine described the events as an invasion and occupation of Crimea by Russian forces.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to The Star World News, admitted for the first time, in a four-hour televised question-and-answer session, — that the troops in unmarked uniforms soldiers in unmarked uniforms – dubbed “little green men,” who had captured Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula before its annexation last month by Moscow were Russian soldiers.
According to Ukraine’s Interior Ministry, there were no casualties among Ukrainian servicemen. Thursday at the talks in Geneva he expressed hope for the success that can bring together the United States, the European Union, Russia and Ukraine for the first time since the Ukrainian crisis erupted. NATO has reported that Russia has up to 40,000 troops along its border with Ukraine.
“I think the start of today’s talks is very important, as it’s very important now to think together about how to overcome this situation and offer a real dialogue to the people,” President Vladimir Putin said, according to the National Post.
In the east, subject to the Russian empire for centuries, many people speak Russian as their first language and see Moscow as a source of stability. In the west, some see Russians as imperialists who oppressed their country in the Soviet era.
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