12:12 07.04.2014

Donetsk administration barricaded with car tires

2 min read

About 1,000 people are still outside the building of the Donetsk regional state administration on Monday afternoon.

Barbed wire has been put around the entrance and a barricade of car tires erected as high as a human, an Interfax correspondent said.

A Russian flag is fluttering above the building, and masked protestors are on the entrance roof decorated with flags of the Donetsk region and of the Donetsk Republic organization.

Protestors ask through loudspeakers to bring in firewood, tires and food.

Many of the masked people are armed with baseball bats and rubber batons they took from law enforcement during the storming of the building.

The Russian anthem and songs by Russian rock-band "Lube" are played through loudspeakers just outside the building.

Ukrainian reporters are not allowed inside the administration building.

Traffic in the adjacent streets has been partly closed, side entrances to the building are protected by police.

A day earlier the administration building was occupied by people who demanded that the Donetsk regional council meet immediately for a decision to hold a referendum on joining Russia. They also promised to declare a "people's mandate" at midnight on Monday, i.e. to "disband the regional council" and replace it with a "people's regional council" consisting of "representatives elected" from regional communities.

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