Rocks and Rubber Bullets in Donetsk Police Standoff

Overview

On International Workers Day, pro-Russia protesters marched through central Donetsk in eastern Ukraine calling for a referendum on the region's future. Some want to join Russia, while others to become a federal republic inside Ukraine — all want to separate from the interim government installed after the Euromaidan revolution. Around 3,000 protesters first gathered on Lenin Square before marching on to lay flowers at a WW1 memorial. The protesters chanted in support of the planned May 11th referendum and denounced the government in Kiev as a "fascist junta" while waving Stalin flags. The crowd wasn't entirely friendly, with one journalist, who was accused of being a "provocateur," was bundled into a car and driven away by protesters in body armor, his destination unknown.