MOSCOW, April 17 (RIA Novosti) – The use of tanks and aviation against civilians is another crime of the coup-imposed Kiev government, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a live Q&A session Thursday.
"Instead of understanding what is going wrong in the Ukrainian State and seeking the dialogue, they [Kiev's authorities] began to threaten even more, by moving tanks and aircrafts against civilians. This is an another very serious crime committed by current authorities in Kiev," Putin said.
Ukrainian forces launched a special operation Tuesday in a crackdown on pro-federalization activists in eastern regions of the country. The operation targeted the cities of Kramatorsk and Slaviansk in the Donetsk region.
According to the pro-federalization supporters, at least four protesters were killed and two others wounded Tuesday as Ukrainian troops stormed an airfield in Kramatorsk. The Ukrainian authorities have not confirmed this information.
Eastern Ukraine has been swept by rallies beginning last month. Federalization supporters in Kharkiv, Donetsk, Gorlovka, Slaviansk and Kramatorsk refuse to recognize the legitimacy of the current Ukrainian government and are urging interim authorities to hold referendums similar to the one held in Crimea last month, which led to the republic's reunification with Russia.
Moscow condemned the decision by the new Ukrainian authorities to use force against the federalization supporters, saying it was an extremely unpleasant turn of events.
