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Situation in Slaviansk, Donetsk region, calm - acting mayor says

KIEV, April 17, 0:57 /ITAR-TASS/. The situation is calm at the moment in Slaviansk, the Donetsk region, city’s acting mayor Vyacheslav Ponomaryov told Tass, adding that there had been no new attempts to get into the city from Kiev-controlled military units.

Units of self-defence stopped on Wednesday in the north of the city a group of armed people in military uniforms without insignia after an exchange of fire that continued for half-an-hour. “There have been no other attempts to get into the city,” he said, adding that no local citizens had been injured in the shootout.

Earlier, fighters of 25th airborne troops brigade sided with the militia. “Soldiers saw our attitude to them. There was no hostility on our part. Some of them have already left home. Some have stayed, we are supplying them with meals,” he added.

Ponomaryov also said that self-defence units remained in combat readiness. “People are ready. We keep upholding our interests,” the acting mayor said.

“A referendum [on the status of the region] will take place only after the war ends. Believe me, it has just started,” he said in reply to the query about a vote on the status of the Donetsk region.

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