- Title: UKRAINE: Anti-government protesters rally in eastern Donetsk
- Date: 6th April 2014
- Summary: DONETSK, UKRAINE (APRIL 6, 2014) (REUTERS) PROTESTERS IN CENTRAL SQUARE VARIOUS PROTESTERS HOLDING SLOGANS WOMEN HOLDING SLOGAN READING: AMERICA, EUROPE - HANDS OFF UKRAINE, RUSSIA. WE ARE ONE NATION PROTESTERS HOLDING GIANT RUSSIAN FLAG SPEAKER ADDRESSING RALLY GIANT RUSSIAN FLAG PROTESTERS HOLDING SLOGANS: BOYCOTT THE ELECTION! KIEV JUNTA IS ILLEGITIMATE. GET OUT OF THE COUNTRY! VARIOUS PROTESTERS SLOGAN: REFERENDUM (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) PROTESTER SVETLANA, SAYING: "Our main positions are - not to join the European Union, not to head towards NATO, not to fight, to insure that our children live peacefully." PROTESTERS HOLDING FLAG OF DONETSK REPUBLIC WITH RUSSIAN STATE SYMBOL OF A DOUBLE-HEADED EAGLE ON IT (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) PROTESTER ASYA, SAYING: "I care about what will happen tomorrow to our country. I'm not against separation but I do not recognise the current government because we now have oligarchs in charge again. They just installed the new ones. The old ones are gone, the new ones arrived. Perhaps people are asleep or don't see that. I don't know. It's just lawlessness what we have in the country now. I care, that's why I'm here today." RALLY (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) PROTESTER LYBOV, SAYING: "I want to support my people. We are against that gang (Kiev government), we are against fascism. I want Customs Union (with Russia). Kiev doesn't hear us, the European Union doesn't hear us. I want to appeal to the EU - let them come to Donetsk, to Donbas, and hear our voices. They only hear voices in Kiev." SPEAKER ON PODIUM PROTESTERS CARRYING RUSSIAN FLAG
- Embargoed: 21st April 2014 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Ukraine
- Country: Ukraine
- Topics: Politics
- Reuters ID: LVAE3I5VNCMR7Z50XLPT95I3I8R5
- Story Text: Several thousand of pro-Russian supporters gathered in eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk on Sunday (April 6) to rally against the Kiev government.
People were holding Russian flags and various banners reading "America, Europe - hands off Ukraine, Russia. We are one nation" or calling to boycott the upcoming presidential elections in Ukraine set for late May.
Protesters also stretched a huge Russian flag in the middle of the crowd.
"Our main positions are - not to join the European Union, not to head towards NATO, not to fight, to insure that our children live peacefully," protester Svetlana explained.
Months of protests across Ukraine led to ousting of President Viktor Yanukovich, the killings of more than 100 protesters and Russia's seizure of Crimea.
Yanukovich triggered the protests in November by rejecting a trade deal with the European Union in favour of economic aid from Russia. The Kremlin says its intervention in favour of ethnic Russians in Crimea was prompted by Yanukovich's removal in what it describes as a coup by right-wing nationalists.
While the new interim government in Kiev is leaning towards West, people in some parts of Ukraine don't feel like things will change significantly and call for unification with Russia.
"I care about what will happen tomorrow to our country. I'm not against separation but I do not recognise the current government because we now have oligarchs in charge again. They just installed the new ones. The old ones are gone, the new ones arrived. Perhaps people are asleep or don't see that. I don't know. It's just lawlessness what we have in the country now. I care, that's why I'm here today," protester Asya said.
"I want to support my people. We are against that gang (Kiev government), we are against fascism. I want Customs Union (with Russia). Kiev doesn't hear us, the European Union doesn't hear us. I want to appeal to the EU - let them come to Donetsk, to Donbas, and hear our voices. They only hear voices in Kiev," another protester Lyubov said.
Donetsk had a few mass rallies, including some violent clashes, since the removal of a Moscow-backed president in February.
The clashes, following Russian President Vladimir Putin's assertion in March that Russia had the right to protect Ukraine's Russian-speaking population, stoked suspicions that Moscow possibly harbours plans for a broader incursion into Ukraine beyond Crimea. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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