Ukraine alert as politician 'killed'
Politician Vladimir Rybak disappeared after being
filmed trying to access a building seized by pro-Russian activists, as
Daniel Sandford reports
Ukraine's
acting president has ordered the relaunch of military operations
against pro-Russian militants in the east after two men, one a local
politician, were "tortured to death".
"The terrorists who effectively took the whole Donetsk region hostage have now gone too far," he said.
The move came as US Vice-President Joe Biden was visiting Ukraine.
The BBC's Daniel Sandford reports on the "uncontrolled sorrow" at the funerals of pro-Russian activists in Sloviansk
The US and the West accuse Russia of using undercover military to back separatists in eastern Ukraine, where public buildings are occupied in at least nine cities and towns. Russia denies involvement.
Mr Biden warned Russia that further "provocative behaviour" would lead to "greater isolation" and urged Moscow to end its alleged support for pro-Russian militants.
In remarks to Ukrainian MPs, Mr Biden said the US stood with Ukraine's new leaders against "humiliating threats" - an apparent reference to Russia.
The BBC's Natalia Antelava visited a protest camp in Luhansk
The US is to provide an additional $50m (£30m) for political and economic reforms in Ukraine, including $11m to help run the presidential election due on 25 May.
In another US move, Washington is sending 600 troops to take part in Nato exercises in the three Baltic states and Poland.
A defence department spokesman said the decision was designed to show a strong commitment to the alliance as events unfolded in Ukraine.
'Connivance'
Announcing the decision to reactivate the military operation in eastern Ukraine, Mr Turchynov said in a statement: "I call on the security bodies to resume and carry out successful anti-terrorist measures aimed at defending Ukrainian citizens living in the east of Ukraine against terrorists."
Mr Rybak, whose body was found on Tuesday, was described as a local councillor for the Fatherland party in the nearby town of Horlivka. The other man killed has not yet been publicly identified.
Mr Rybak had gone missing recently and, according to police, his body was found in a river.
"These crimes are being committed with the full support and connivance of the Russian Federation," Mr Turchynov said.
Kiev's military operation to end the occupation of buildings began on 16 April but was suspended over the Easter period.
Official buildings in at least nine cities and towns remain occupied
In another incident, a Ukrainian military surveillance plane was hit by small arms fire over eastern Ukraine, the defence ministry said.
Continue reading the main story
When the coffins were carried out of the church, the crowd outside shouted "Glory to the Heroes of the Donbass!" over and over again - Donbass being the name for the Don River basin. Church bells rang out.
The people I've been speaking to here are convinced that it was Ukrainian ultra-nationalists who carried out Sunday's attack. One woman told me she was proud to be Ukrainian, but that instability and violence was pushing people here to want closer ties to Russia.
At the funerals
In the Church of the Holy Spirit in the centre of Sloviansk, an Orthodox priest chanted prayers for the dead. The bodies of three pro-Russian activists, shot dead at a makeshift checkpoint on Easter Sunday, lay in open coffins.When the coffins were carried out of the church, the crowd outside shouted "Glory to the Heroes of the Donbass!" over and over again - Donbass being the name for the Don River basin. Church bells rang out.
The people I've been speaking to here are convinced that it was Ukrainian ultra-nationalists who carried out Sunday's attack. One woman told me she was proud to be Ukrainian, but that instability and violence was pushing people here to want closer ties to Russia.
The aircraft, an Antonov AN-30,
suffered minor damage over Sloviansk when it was targeted by automatic
gunfire, according to the ministry. No-one was hurt and the plane
returned safely to Kiev.
The local separatists said the attack was carried out by ultra-nationalist Right Sector militants but Kiev called it a "provocation" staged by Russian special forces.
The bodies of those killed lay in open coffins at the funeral ceremony at the Church of the Holy Spirit in the centre of Sloviansk.
Photos released
Moscow and Washington are accusing each other of breaking last week's Geneva accord on resolving the Ukraine crisis, and the US is planning further sanctions should Russia fail to fulfil its Geneva commitments.
Joe Biden: "Ukraine faces a struggle for its very future"
The 17 April Geneva accord stipulated an immediate end to violence in eastern Ukraine and called on illegal armed groups to surrender their weapons and leave official buildings.
Photos released by the Ukrainian
government purport to show a soldier, circled in red, in both Kramatorsk
and Sloviansk, and in a photo (centre) showing a group in the Russian
Special ForcesThere was no immediate response to the pictures from the Russian government.
Ukraine has been in turmoil since last November, when Kiev was gripped by protests over whether the country should lean more towards Russia or Europe.
Tatars opposed Russia's annexation of Crimea in March.
-- BBC
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