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Protesters take control of Seversk in Donetsk region

Local law-enforcement authorities said they would cooperate with activists

Protesters in the Donetsk Oblast ITAR-TASS/Valery Matytsin

Protesters in the Donetsk Oblast

© ITAR-TASS/Valery Matytsin

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Protesters' checkpoint destroyed in village near Sloviansk in eastern Ukraine

SEVERSK, April 18. /ITAR-TASS/. Activists of the proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic took control of the town of Seversk in the Donetsk Oblast, eastern Ukraine.

Flags were changed on the administration and police buildings. Local law-enforcement authorities said they would cooperate with activists, an ITAR-TASS correspondent reported from the site.

About 20 supporters of the Donetsk People's Republic arrived in a truck at Seversk. Scores of local residents gathered on the square in front of the administration building. After brief talks, militia activists and police told the meeting that the city was controlled by the Donetsk People's Republic. No shots were fired. Police assured they would continue working as usual and maintain order in cooperation with the militia.

Seversk is a town of 12,000 people in the Artyomovsk district in the Donetsk region. Most of its residents are employed in the production sector. The main enterprise is the Seversk dolomite production plant.

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