KIEV, Ukraine — The seizure of government buildings in eastern Ukraine by pro-Russian separatists is being orchestrated by Moscow to create an excuse for a military invasion like in Crimea, Ukraine's prime minister said Monday.
"Russia's scenario is division and destruction of Ukraine," said Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk at a Cabinet meeting. "The plan for foreign troops to cross the border and attack the country. We won't let it happen."
Ukrainian authorities said armed gunmen took over the local headquarters of the security services in Luhansk, which is 15 miles from the border with Russia. Luhansk is one of several cities in east Ukraine where secessionists have held protests in recent weeks.
Groups of unidentified people erected barriers overnight on Luhansk's thoroughfare and police have blocked all entrances to the city. Local media reported that the pro-Russian demonstrators stormed the building Sunday, pelting the building with eggs, stones, a smoke grenade and finally a firebomb.
In the eastern city of Donetsk, pro-Russian separatists who seized the main administration building on the weekend and raised a Russian flag over it proclaimed Monday the creation of a "people's republic" independent of Ukrainian rule, according to Ukraine and Russian media.
People in Donetsk said the police are not doing enough to stop the pro-Russian violence.
"The people who stand for a united Ukraine are mostly intellectuals, while their opponents are uneducated and aggressive people, drunk with the feeling of impunity that they have thanks to the inactivity of local police," Liudmyla Yatsyna said. "We don't have a chance against this crowd."
The Interfax news agency said the activists demanded that a referendum be held no later than May 11 on the breaking away of the Donetsk region.
In footage uploaded to the Internet, an unidentified pro-Russia activist in the provincial government headquarters in Donetsk asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to send peacekeeping troops to the region.
"Without your support, without the support of Russia, it will be hard for us to resist the Kiev junta on our own," he said, referring to the Ukraine government that was appointed by the elected parliament after it voted to oust Moscow-backed President Viktor Yanukovych in February for the killing of more than 80 protesters.
Crowds also assaulted local government buildings in the eastern city of Kharkiv on Sunday, but Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said Monday that the Kharkiv building had been retaken by authorities.
MORE: After Ukraine, Russian activists brace for repressions
The takeovers are similar to what happened in the Ukraine province of Crimea just before masked Russian troops poured in to help local separatists keep out Ukraine troops and prevent opponents to Russia from getting in the way. Moscow has since claimed Crimea to be part of Russia, and has forced out all Ukraine troops and authorities.
Ukrainians who have held rallies in favor of keeping their country to remain intact say they are being attacked by the separatists.
"We sit at home because both times we went out to protest for a united Ukraine, we came back home covered in dirt from the raw eggs they were throwing at us," said Donetsk resident Yulia Stryzhak.
"And others even experienced grenades and tear gas. Going out for a demonstration now is a real threat to one's life."
Tens of thousands of Russian troops are massed at the border with Ukraine. Putin told President Obama and European leaders last week he had removed some of the troops, but Ukraine says none have left.
Obama has said Putin must not invade, and the White House says he gave the message to Putin in a series of phone calls. But Obama says he opposes any use of military force by NATO, the European-U.S. military alliance that has troops and aircraft in the region.
Ukraine has pleaded for help from the West militarily. So far, the West has issued sanctions against some of Putin's inner circle and provided financial aid and prepared meals to Ukraine.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/04/07/ukraine-gunmen-seized-building/7410151/
Pro-Russian protesters have stormed government buildings in three eastern Ukrainian cities.
In Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv they clashed with police, hung Russian flags from the buildings and called for a referendum on independence.
Ukraine's acting president called an emergency security meeting in response.
The unrest comes amid tensions between Russia and Ukraine over the removal of pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych and Russia's annexation of Crimea.
AnalysisByBridget Kendall
Diplomatic correspondent, BBC News
These are not the first protests of this kind in eastern Ukraine. Nor are they that big. But they have resurfaced with renewed determination and co-ordination.
Moscow will argue they show the strength of feeling among Russian speakers and reinforce Russia's call for speedy constitutional reform to give them more say over their own future.
But after the Russian takeover in Crimea, Kiev suspects that this is not grassroots activism, but an orchestrated campaign designed to trap Kiev into either succumbing to demands to let eastern regions govern themselves or even break away to join Russia or running the risk of mounting unrest and a possible Russian invasion.
So it is no wonder Ukraine's acting president has cancelled his trip abroad.
If he can't stop these rallies from getting bigger and more violent, he fears that President Vladimir Putin could claim Kiev has lost control of eastern Ukraine, and Russia has no option but to intervene for "humanitarian" reasons.
Why have protests erupted?
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Moscow has the right to protect the Russian-speaking population there.
Ukraine's leaders deny the country's Russian speakers are under threat and have said they will resist any intervention in their country.
Ukrainian Acting President Olexander Turchynov cancelled a planned visit to Lithuania and called a meeting of the country's security chiefs to deal with the unrest.
In Donetsk, in what was reportedly the day's most violent protest, a large group of activists broke away from a crowd rallying in the main city square to attack and occupy the regional government seat.
After clashing with riot police and breaking through their lines to enter the building, they raised the Russian flag and hung a banner from the building. Protesters outside cheered and chanted: "Russia, Russia."
Ihor Dyomin, a spokesman for Donetsk local police, said about 1,000 people had taken part in the storming of the building.
"Around 100 people are now inside the building and are barricading the building," he added.
The protesters in Donetsk engaged in a stand-off with riot police
Scuffles between the two sides broke out
A breakaway group broke into the regional administration building and hung a banner
In Luhansk, similar scenes saw pro-Russian demonstrators remove the sign from the front of the Ukrainian state security agency
In Luhansk, police fired tear gas at dozens of protesters who broke into the local security service building in an attempt to force the release of 15 pro-Russian activists who were arrested earlier in the week and accused of plotting violent unrest.
Local news reports said at least two people had been injured in clashes, and TV pictures from the scene showed a riot policeman being taken away on a stretcher.
And in Kharkiv, several dozen people also entered the regional government building after breaking through police lines.
They waved Russian flags out of windows as a crowd outside cheered and chanted. Police officers reportedly refused to use force against the crowd and moved away from the government building after the pro-Russian supporters broke in.
Ukraine's Interior Minister Arsen Avakov accused President Putin and Mr Yanukovych - who was forced from office in February following months of street protests and is now living in exile in Russia - of "ordering and paying for another wave of separatist turmoil in the country's east".
In a message posted on his Facebook account, he said: "The people who have gathered are not many but they are very aggressive. The situation will be brought under control without bloodshed. But at the same time, a firm approach will be used against all who attack government buildings, law enforcement officers and other citizens."
Tensions are running high between Ukraine and Russia, with thousands of Russian soldiers still said to be deployed along the border.
The new administration in Ukraine has faced continuing opposition from Ukraine's Russian-speaking regions.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's far-right Svoboda party has reported that the body of one its activists was found on Saturday after it was dumped in the woods with signs of torture, a day after his abduction in the central village of Vygrayev.
Svoboda was one of the participants in the protests that toppled Mr Yanukovych's administration.
http://m.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26910210

In Pictures, Darth Vader Running for President of Ukraine.
http://mashable.com/2014/04/06/photos-darth-vader-ukraine/