In the eastern Ukrainian city of Luhansk, makeshift barricades, concertina wire and masked men in camouflage greeted visitors to the regional administration building Wednesday. Seized by armed men Tuesday, the building in Ukraine's restive Donetsk region is just the latest to fall under the control of pro-Russian militants. Government sites across more than a dozen towns and cities in Donetsk remain occupied, despite an international deal agreed to earlier this month that called for illegal armed groups to disarm and go home. And the militias, resolutely defiant, show no signs of changing their stance. In the foyer of the Luhansk government building -- outside which pro-Russian flags now fly -- more armed men, sandbags and wire surrounded a desk through which access to the rest of the building was controlled. A handful of employees waited, looking very uncomfortable.
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Russia calls on Kiev to halt "militaristic statements"
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Acting President says Ukrainian military has been put on full combat readiness
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Armed men seize administration building in Luhansk, police headquarters in Horlivka
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Russia can't "have it both ways" in dealings with the world, U.S. Vice President Biden says
"We insist on an immediate termination of the Kiev militaristic rhetoric aimed at intimidating its own population, on preventing the use of force and initiation of the internal @placeholder dialogue to seek national reconciliation within the country," the ministry said in a statement posted on its website.