(9 Apr 2014) The chairman of Donetsk regional council Andrei Shishatsky announced his resignation on Wednesday.
Shishatsky was a former member of ousted President Viktor Yanukovych's Party of Regions, from which he was removed last month by a vote of delegates.
Shishatsky said he was glad the situation in Donetsk was fairly quiet when he was in charge.
"This could have begun even earlier," he said referring to the occupation of regional buildings in Donetsk by pro-Russian activists.
Shishatsky was replaced in an interim capacity by Igor Koval.
Outside the administration building in Donetsk, Russian flags could be seen waving on top of the building and on barricades blocking entrance to the building.
There was also a banner that read "America, Europe hands off Ukraine, Russia. We are one nation" stuck to the barricade made out of barbed wire, tires and sand bags.
Several government buildings were seized by pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv over the weekend in an escalation of protests against Ukraine's interim government in power since the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych in February.
Nikolai Levchenko, a deputy of parliament with the Party of Regions from Donetsk region, called for pro-Russian activists to leave the regional administration building to allow legally elected local deputies to continue their work.
Levchenko urged the activists to address their concerns and opinions in a legal way instead.
All the cities affected by the uprisings are in Ukraine's industrial Russian-speaking heartland in the east, which has a large population of ethnic Russians and economic and cultural ties to Russia are strong.
Many residents are suspicious of the government that took power in February.
Find out more about AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
Facebook: [ Ссылка ]
Instagram: [ Ссылка ]
You can license this story through AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
