Kharkiv, Ukraine (CNN) — An “anti-terrorist operation” is under way in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region against pro-Russia protesters, Kiev declared on Tuesday, with armored personnel carriers seen on the road in the restive area.
Twenty-four hours after a Ukrainian ultimatum expired for the protesters to lay down their arms, acting President Oleksandr Turchynov told Parliament the operation would be “conducted step by step, responsibly, cautiously.”
“The aim of these actions is to protect the citizens of Ukraine, to stop terror, to stop criminality, to stop attempts to tear Ukraine to pieces,” he said.
Tensions have soared in recent days in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists have seized government and police buildings in as many as 10 towns and cities. Russia declared its neighbor was on the brink of a civil war.
A Monday morning deadline set by Turchynov for protesters to disarm or face action by Ukraine’s armed forces passed without any sign it was heeded. But Ukrainian forces now appear to be on the move en masse toward the region.
A spokesman for Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, Evgen Rojenyuk, confirmed a National Guard battalion made up of 350 troops was sent to the Donetsk region from Kiev on Tuesday morning.
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