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Those who seized Donetsk prosecutor's office may be jailed for 5-8 years

Earlier a group of unknown masked young men with batons in hands broke into the building of the prosecutor's office

DONETSK, April 12. /ITAR-TASS/. The Donetsk regional prosecutor's office confirmed the information that its building was seized overnight.

A group of unknown masked young men with batons in hands broke into the building of the prosecutor's office. About 40 people began to barricade entrances with furniture. After negotiations, the people left the administrative building.

A criminal case is opened on charges of mass disorders. The Criminal Code prescribes five to eight years' imprisonment for such actions.

As was earlier reported, unknown people got into the Donetsk regional prosecutor's office overnight, but shortly after that, law enforcers arrived on the scene and removed all from the building, local media reported.

Meanwhile, a group of unidentified people seized a district police station in Sloviansk, the Donetsk region, on Saturday, an official at the Donetsk regional police department told ITAR-TASS on Saturday. "Unknown people have seized a district police station today. They were in camouflage uniform. They remain there now," he said.

Ukrainian parliament-appointed Interior Minister Arsen Avakov has warned about "tough response actions" against those who have seized the police station.

"Armed people in camouflage uniform have seized a district police station in Sloviansk. Response will be very tough here," Avakov said. A special police group was sent to Sloviansk, he said.

The Ukrainian Interior Ministry would respond toughly to attempts to destabilize the situation, especially in the southeast of the country, the ministry said in a statement on its website on Saturday.

"The Interior Ministry will toughly respond to attempts to intentionally destabilize the situation, violation of public order and mass disorders all over Ukraine's territory, particularly in regions, where special operations are conducted to settle the situation the Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv regions. All who will violate the law, irrespective of declared slogans and party affiliation, will be detained," the statement reads.

The ministry warned that a "serious" article of the Ukrainian Criminal Code would be applied to organizers of protests.