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Ukrainian Federalists Move Deeper into Kramatorsk, Set Barricades on Fire

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Pro-federalism supporters are setting barricades of tires on fire and are heading deeper into the eastern Ukraine city of Kramatorsk, the new scene of clashes with the Ukrainian troops loyal to government, a RIA Novosti correspondent has reported.

SLAVIANSK, April 16 (RIA Novosti) – Pro-federalism supporters are setting barricades of tires on fire and are heading deeper into the eastern Ukraine city of Kramatorsk, the new scene of clashes with the Ukrainian troops loyal to government, a RIA Novosti correspondent has reported.

Kramatorsk self-defense activists are bracing for an offensive because they fear Ukrainian interim authorities' armored vehicles and special forces may launch soon.

“The city administration will become our Brest fortress,” a local militia leader told RIA Novosti, comparing the events in Kramatorsk to the Red Army’s heroic defense against the Nazis in June 1941, which became a symbol of the Great Patriotic War.

The activist claimed the federalists are carrying no weapons on them, although they have seized local district police department buildings, housing arms rooms.

At least four protesters received gunshot wounds as Ukrainian troops stormed an airfield in Kramatorsk Tuesday, he said. Two of them were hospitalized in neighboring Donetsk, while the others refused to be hospitalized. “Thanks God, there have been no deaths,” the activist said.

Early on Wednesday, six Ukrainian army’s tanks arrived in the city from Dnipropetrovsk, but faced no resistance there. Officers told local people that they had no plans to shoot at anyone and came for peaceful purposes. The operation also involves unmanned aircraft.

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.

On Sunday, Ukrainian security forces launched an operation in Slaviansk, some 150 kilometers from the border with Russia, to quash unrest by demonstrators who had seized local government buildings. At least one person was killed and nine injured in the clashes, according to local health officials. Activists said at least three people died.

Russian President Vladimir Putin urged the United Nations and the international community Tuesday to condemn Kiev’s anti-constitutional actions in eastern Ukraine.

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