On Tuesday, insurgents in the Ukraine stormed a building in the city of Luhansk. Pro-Russian separatists gained access to a government building with force.
According to the Associated Press, demonstrators entered the building with baseball bats. Other separatists broke windows and walked through the buildings wearing helmets and carrying shields. Previously, Pro-Russian separatists entered the local security services building in Luhansk, according to Reuters.
The demonstrators met no resistance from police or the Ukranian government at this time. "The regional leadership does not control its police force," said Stanislav Rechynsky, an aide to Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, according to Voice of America. "The local police did nothing.”
This follows a pattern whereby Pro-Russian activists have seized buildings. Previously, activists seized a building in the region's second biggest city of Donetsk. Luhansk is located 15 miles west of the Russian border.
Autonomy in the regions is a contributing factor to the unrest in the eastern Ukraine. The insurgents are looking for a referendum on the Ukraine’s regions.
On Tuesday in Kiev, Ukraine’s parliament spoke about holding a national referendum on “whether the country should remain a united state or a loose federation that allows the regions more powers.”