DONETSK, Ukraine – In an attempt to defuse separatist tensions in eastern Ukraine, government and business leaders told visiting Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk that the the regions need more power and resources to address the needs of local residents.
Referring to himself as a “crisis manager,” Donetsk Governor Serhiy Taruta proposed that the Cabinet of Ministers approve a development program for the industrial Donbass region – constituting Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv oblasts. He submitted a proposal during the meeting. If enacted, Taruta sid the program “would in three to four months quell the desire of people wanting to join Russia.”
On April 6, pro-Russian demonstrators seized the regional government headquarters of Donetsk and have barricaded themselves inside while declaring an independent republic consisting of Donetsk Oblast, where 10 percent of Ukraine’s population lives.
