Luhansk regional administration building seized by separatists
Pro-Russian activists have seized the building of Luhansk Regional State Administration.
They broke the glass and entered the building. Smoke pellets and firecrackers were used.
There was no police outside the regional administration as all law-enforcers were on the second floor of the building. Police officers used tear gas.
Some time later, a division of the National Guard which defended the premises of the administration abandoned the building. Earlier, the regional administration's leadership sent all their employees home.
Several thousand people, many of them women, gathered outside the regional administration's building. They are waving the flags of Russia, and of the self-proclaimed People's Republic of Donetsk, chanting "Shame on you!" "Russia!" and "Glory to the Berkut."
Some of the protesters are inside the building. Many are wearing balaclavas, miner's helmets, and others medical masks.
People are entering the building freely. There appear to be no clashes.
Several Russian flags are hanging from the rooftop of the administration. The flags of the so-called Luhansk People's Republic can be seen from the windows.
According to local media, one person received a head injury during the storming of the administration.
Sources in the headquarters of the Luhansk people's front said earlier that the building of Luhansk Regional State Administration had been occupied by supporters of the "people's governor" Valeriy Bolotov.