The Horlivka police, Donetsk region, is working normally, calling on citizens not to give in to provocations.

"I am asking all citizens not to give in to provocations because every attempt to destabilize the situation will be toughly curbed," the Internet publication Novosti Donbassa quoted Andriy Kryschenko, the head of the Horlivka police, as saying on Monday.

The city police are now working normally and are ready to act in accordance with Article 15 of the Ukrainian law On the Police, which outlines the use of service weapons, in the event of illegal actions, he said.

"For this reason, I am calling on citizens not to give in to provocations and not to violate the law," Kryschenko said.

According to Novosti Donbassa, top officials of the city's police met with Valeriy Otchenko, a representative of the Donetsk People's Republic, who demanded that the Gorlovka police "owe their allegiance to the people of Ukraine," on Monday.

Kryschenko recalled that all law enforcement officials are under an oath of allegiance.

According to earlier reports, some 150 anti-Maidan activists tried to enter the Gorlovka city police department on Monday morning to demand that the police obey them. The police hid in the building, barricading the doors.

Anti-Maidan activists have blocked traffic on the city's Lenina Avenue. It is now closed to traffic.