One Luhansk army base seized by gunmen; another stormed, set ablaze - police
KYIV. June 4 (Interfax) - Over the past 24 hours one of the military bases in Luhansk has been seized by several hundred armed people, and another one stormed. Also, weapons and vehicles were stolen from a third one in late May, the Luhansk regional police said.
"Kamennobrodsk district. The police received a report that about 300 armed people seized the military base No.A0194. All troops have been evacuated, the territory of the military base is controlled by the armed men. None of the personnel has been injured. There is no information about the number of seized weapons and ammunition. This fact was registered in the Single Register of Pre-trial Investigations under Article 258 part two of the Ukrainian Criminal Code," a spokeswoman for the Luhansk regional police, Tatyana Pohukai, wrote on her Facebook page on Wednesday.
In the Zhovtnev district of Luhansk, police received an anonymous report at 9:50 p.m. on June 3 about shots being fired near a house in Shchadenko Street near the military base No.3035, the spokeswoman said. "It was established based on the preliminary data that at around 9:50 p.m. on June 3 armed men started storming the military base No. 3035. During the hostilities a fire broke out at the military base's warehouse causing three vehicles to explode. There is no information about casualties. Neither the military personnel, nor civilians sought medical aid in hospital," Pohukai said.
An incident involving yet another military base took place in the Leninsky district late at night on May 31. "At 11:30 p.m. on May 31 the military base No. A1783 located in Luhansk at 155 in Ostraya Mogila Street was attacked by around 150-200 armed people wearing camouflage uniforms and balaclavas," a spokesperson said. The attackers stole weapons (31 AKS-74 automatic rifles, an RPK-74 machinegun, and 17 PM pistols), as well as 22 vehicles, mainly, trucks, and eleven trailers, the spokesperson said.
It was reported earlier that over 300 armed men surrounded and opened fire at a police patrol regiment of the Ukrainian National Guard deployed in Luhansk in the early hours of Wednesday. The attack was carried out with heavy weaponry: automatic rifles, machineguns, mortar launchers and grenade launchers; snipers were also operating in the area.
