2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers, Sequence of events, Week 2 (20–26 June), Day 14
Despite the Oslo Accords stipulating coordination with the PA security service for Israeli entry into West Bank Areas in the Area A, in what was called an "unprecedented" move, Israeli units raided the Tunis and Rafidia neighbourhoods of Nablus and Balata refugee camp without prior clearance. Two hundred homes in Awarta were also raided.


2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers, Sequence of events, Week 2 (20–26 June), Day 14
According to Israeli figures, state detentions numbered 381, of whom 282 are affiliated to Hamas. The number of locations searched rose to 1,955, including 64 Hamas institutions. Palestinian figures state that 566 were detained, six were shot dead, and over 120 wounded; two elderly people died of heart attacks during Israeli operations, and more than 1,200 homes were searched.


2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers, Sequence of events, Week 3 (27 June – 3 July), Day 18
On 30 June, a search team located the bound bodies of the three boys on land purchased recently by the Qawasmeh family in an open field near Khirbet Aranava in the Wadi Tellem area, between Halhul and Karmei Tzur, about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) west of the former, just north of Hebron. A high security source revealed that:


2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers, Sequence of events, Week 3 (27 June – 3 July), Day 18
The quick solving of the crime by the Shin Bet, which within a 24-hour period identified the kidnappers, together with military pressure in the field, prevented the kidnappers from hiding the bodies and negotiating with Israel for their return.


2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers, Sequence of events, Week 3 (27 June – 3 July), Day 18
The ambulance carrying the three bodies was attacked by Palestinians as it left Halhul, the location where the bodies had been found. The Palestinians hurled rocks and paint at the ambulance, smashing its windshield and blinding the windows, but failed to cause the driver to lose control.


2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers, Sequence of events, Week 3 (27 June – 3 July), Day 18
Just after midnight, Israeli military detonated explosives in the Hebron homes of the two main suspects, Marwan Qawasmeh and Amer Abu Aisha.


2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers, Sequence of events, Week 3 (27 June – 3 July), Day 19
The joint funeral of Yifrach, Fraenkel, and Shaer was scheduled for 17:30 on 1 July. Huge crowds delayed it for over an hour.


2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers, Sequence of events, Week 3 (27 June – 3 July), Day 19
Israeli jets and helicopters struck 34 locations in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip in response to more than 20 rockets being fired at Israel from Gaza. A 19-year-old Palestinian man, Yousouf Al-Zagha, was shot dead by Israeli troops during a raid in the northern town of Jenin. An IDF spokesperson said the man had thrown a grenade at the troops, while his family maintained he had been carrying eggs home for suhoor, the predawn meal during the fast of Ramadan.


2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers, Sequence of events, Week 3 (27 June – 3 July), Day 20
A Palestinian teenager was abducted from East Jerusalem and murdered. Israeli police located the body within hours, and arrested Israeli nationalist suspects several days later. The kidnapping and murder of Mohammed Abu Khdeir was soundly denounced by all of the families of the Israeli kidnapping victims as well as by many Israeli governmental and non-governmental public figures.


2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers, Sequence of events, Week 4 and on (4 July and after)
On 4 July, Israel stated it was searching for a third suspect, Husam Dofsh, absent from his home since the kidnapping. A relative, Jihad Dofsh, had blown himself up in a "work accident" in a Hamas explosives laboratory in Hebron, and one of Qawasmeh's relatives had died in the same incident. Husam Dofsh was arrested in a Hebron coffee-shop the following day, after phoning an Israeli news site to protest his innocence.


2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers, Sequence of events, Week 4 and on (4 July and after)
For about two weeks in July, Israeli military preparations began for direct fighting inside of Gaza, whilst Hamas rocket fire into Israel took place. The military publicly announced on 17 July that it would go into Gaza, an intervention that caused at least 25 soldiers killed and scores injured on the Israeli side over the 20 to 21 July period. Public opinion in the nation is strongly divided, with, for example, the newspaper Haaretz editorializing that the "soft Gaza sand... could turn into quicksand" and warning about the "wholesale killing" of Palestinian civilians. The campaign in the Gaza is referred to by Israel as Operation Protective Edge.


2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers, Sequence of events, Week 4 and on (4 July and after)
On 20 August, Hamas official Saleh Al-'Arouri spoke at the conference of the International Union of Muslim Scholars in Istanbul, where he said the group's military wing was responsible for the kidnapping of the three Israeli teens, saying it was an expression of popular will. Khaled Mashal, the Hamas leader, while recognizing that Hamas members were responsible, attempted to distance his organization from the killing two days later. Stating Hamas's opposition to killing civilians, he said the leadership had no advance knowledge of the abduction, which he regarded as a legitimate act by a frustrated people living under occupation, and that it had only learnt of its details from Israeli investigations.


2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers, Sequence of events, Week 4 and on (4 July and after)
In July, demolition orders were handed out to the Qawasmeh and Abu Eisheh families and to Husam Ali Al Qawasmeh who was not a suspect in the killing but arrested for being a Hamas members. Despite protests from human rights groups, the families homes were demolished in August, displacing 39 Palestinians.


2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers, Aftermath
Following the kidnappings and the escalating firing of missiles by Palestinian militants towards civilians in southern Israel, Israel decides to embark on Operation Protective Edge. On 3 July 2014, the Israeli Air Force conducted 15 air strikes in Gaza directed at Hamas targets in response to a rocket attack from Palestinian militants. The previous night, fifteen Palestinians were injured in the IAF strikes and two buildings ruined Operation Protective Edge, became a ground war on 8 July 2014.


2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers, Aftermath
On 11 July 2014, it has been reported by the nonprofit news organization Washington Free Beacon, that a series of bills in the United States Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives was launched, attempting to solve the boys' murder, based on Yaakov Naftali Fraenkel's dual US-Israeli citizenship. The new legislation, if passed, would offer a $5 million reward for information on the abduction and murder.


2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers, Accusations of collective punishment
On Day 7, The Palestinian Authority declared that the Israeli modus operandi, of clamping down on towns with closures and continual arrest of Hamas members, constituted collective punishment. Amnesty International issued a statement on 19 June calling both for the release of the Israeli youths, their humane treatment while being held, and for Israel to lift several measures it defined as collective punishment in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention and customary international humanitarian law.


2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers, Accusations of collective punishment
According to The Economist, "The Israeli security forces closed off the area around Hebron. Some 23,000 local Palestinians were barred from travelling to their jobs in Israel. A series of charitable organisations that used to be run by Hamas were closed down and a dairy, which employs hundreds of Palestinians, was demolished. Hebronites were prevented from travelling abroad."


2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers, Accusations of collective punishment
In July 2014, the Geneva International Centre for Justice sent an urgent appeal to protest against the imminent house demolition of the homes of the extended families of the suspects and of Husam Ali Al Qawasmeh. The demolitions which the Centre designated as collective punishment would affect 39 people.


2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers, Accusations of collective punishment
Two scholars rejected the claim that the actions constituted collective punishment:


2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers, Speculations on kidnapping motives
Elhanan Miller, writing for The Times of Israel speculated that the motive for the kidnapping could have been to force Israel to release a large number of prisoners in exchange for the three teens. In 2011, Hamas had secured the release of over one thousand prisoners in exchange for Gilad Shalit whom they had captured five years prior.


2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers, Speculations on kidnapping motives
Some 300 prisoners are on a hunger strike against the Israeli practice of holding Palestinians in Administrative detention without charges for six months or more. Many Palestinians support the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers and civilians in order to obtain the release of these prisoners. In 2011, Israel released more than a thousand Palestinians in detention, many convicted by Israeli courts for lethal attacks, in exchange for Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier kidnapped by Palestinian militants.


2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers, Speculations on kidnapping motives
Some months before the 2014 incident, an 18-page manual on abduction techniques was published by Hamas. Entitled "Guide for the Kidnapper,” it provided an operational guide that outlined the use of pistols with silencers, the use of backup cars, the choice of conducting the abductions on rainy days, a command of Hebrew, the renting of hideouts in areas to avoid arousing suspicions and suggestions to refrain from announcing the outcome of the kidnapping until the victims were secured in a safe house.


2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers, Speculations on kidnapping motives
The difficulty confronting the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, which has an ongoing debate on the issue, is the coordination between the PNA and Israeli security services, which makes executing such operations difficult. Several prior incidents, such as the killings of Givati soldier Gal "Gavriel" Kobi and Baruch Mizrahi, a police intelligence officer, displayed exceptional, high-level skills, strict compartmentalization, and careful preparations for an escape route, features shared by the kidnapping. These elements resemble the carefully planned abductions of IDF soldiers by Hezbollah on Israel's northern border.


2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers, Speculations on kidnapping motives
Israel said that the IDF and the Shin Bet have foiled between 54 and 64 kidnapping plots since 2013. The PA said it had foiled 43 of them. The high success rate (95%) in blocking such plots is due to the very close cooperation between the security forces of both sides. Hamas has put considerable effort into kidnapping attempts through its large network.


2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers, Speculations on kidnapping motives
A week into the search for the missing youth, Avi Issacharoff cast doubts on the premise for West Bank operations, which in his view 'targeted the weak'—since Hamas has neither a large or strong presence there—and argued that the operational order, if there was one, came from either Gaza, or abroad, perhaps Ankara-based deportee Saleh al-Arouri, or Khaled Mashaal, who appeared to hint a month earlier in replying to a letter from an imprisoned Hamas leader, after Netanyahu reneged on releasing a fourth group of Palestinian prisoners, that the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades would be his reply. Issacharoff concluded however that, "There isn't a smoking gun to prove the Hamas leadership is complicit in the kidnapping."


2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers, Speculations on kidnapping motives
On 20 August, a Hamas official identified the West Bank Qawasmeh clan, a Hamas ally, for the kidnapping of the three Israeli teens and shared their motives. Saleh Al-'Arouri of the Hamas leadership delivered an address on behalf of Khaled Mashal at the conference of the International Union of Muslim Scholars in Istanbul. In it he said: "Our goal was to ignite an intifada in the West Bank and Jerusalem, as well as within the 1948 borders... Your brothers in the Al-Qassam Brigades carried out this operation to support their imprisoned brothers, who were on a hunger strike... The mujahideen captured these settlers in order to have a swap deal."


2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers, Hitchhiking debate in Israel
As events unfolded, the dangerous nature of hitchhiking in what Israelis refer to as "the territories" prompted a debate, regarded by some in the settler and religious Zionist communities as a kind of victim blaming, about the practice of hitching rides on roads in the Palestinian territories, widely regarded as a cavalier and irresponsible habit for the costs involved in redeeming anyone who is captured.


2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers, Hitchhiking debate in Israel
The normal Israeli practice is one where drivers pull up, declaring their destination, and, by their accent, allowing potential hikers at trempiada (hitchhiking stations) an opportunity to examine the cues, before they accept or decline a lift. Such hitchhiking has long been a hallowed method of travel among Israelis, but as abductions and killings of hitchhikers, mainly IDF soldiers, began to take root in the 1980s, one incident in October 1994 led to the passage of regulations that forbade military personnel from resorting to this method of travel. To hammer the message home, recruits doing basic training are required now to view snuff films that highlight the dangers, and military police "abduct" and punish recruits who do not take it seriously.


2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers, Hitchhiking debate in Israel
Israeli governments have not regulated civilian recourse to hitchhiking, and laws delegate responsibility to parents, expecting them to advise their children. The practice however remains widespread among the dati leumi community of religious Zionists for several reasons: many of them, as in this case, have children boarding in West Bank settlements, where public transport facilities are poor. Haaretz reported that for mitzvah-observant adolescents, it is "a rite of passage, a way of life, a declaration of independence and of ownership of the land." Retired Brigadier General, Nitzan Nuriel, a former counter-terrorism officer in the Prime Minister's Office, declared on Israeli television that hitchhiking had an ideological edge: it made a statement about who owns the territory.


2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers, Reactions, Israel
An Israeli government official stated to Reuters news agency that Israel was looking to use the search as a pretext for a wider crackdown on Hamas and were looking into the legal aspects of deporting Hamas leaders from the West Bank. A Hebrew-language Facebook page calling on PM Netanyahu to assume his responsibilities and requesting that a Palestinian "terrorist" be executed every hour until the three youths are restored to their families, gained 10,000 thumb-ups within hours.


2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers, Reactions, Israel
With a perception in Israel, expressed by Thane Rosenbaum, that the sympathy long lavished on Israel is dwindling, the government stepped up hasbara efforts abroad, especially in Brazil where the 2014 FIFA World Cup has dominated the world's attention. An aircraft trailed a #BringBackOurBoys banner along a Rio de Janeiro beach. The families of the missing boys went to Geneva to address the UN's Human Rights Council.


2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers, Reactions, Israel, Social media in Israel
A social media campaign was started soon after the kidnapping advocating for the safe return of the teens under the hashtag #BringBackOurBoys. According to Robert Mackey, the campaign was initiated by a "group of Israelis trained to promote their country online" The campaign's label attempted to make the link between the then-recent #BringBackOurGirls campaign following the Chibok schoolgirl kidnapping in Nigeria.


2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers, Reactions, Israel, Social media in Israel
One of the organizers stated the social media effort "is simply a cry out to the world to bring those boys back,” adding that "We're only trying to do whatever we can to help the international community to put pressure to release those kids." On 15 June, around 25,000 people gathered for a prayer at the Western Wall for the release of the kidnapped teenagers.


2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers, Reactions, Israel, Violent Israeli reactions
On the night of 1 July a Palestinian family registered a complaint at police concerning an attempt to kidnap their child, 10-year-old Moussa Zalum, on Shu'fat's main street in Jerusalem. At the time, they reported, he was walking with his mother and brother when a car stopped and people tried to pull him into the vehicle. The child managed to wriggle free, and the car sped off.


2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers, Reactions, Israel, Violent Israeli reactions
After the bodies of the three boys were found, settlers attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank were reported. Settlers from Tel Rumeida in Hebron were in the streets, attacking Palestinians and internationals. The Border Police stormed the hill towards the gathered crowd of Palestinians and internationals, exploded a sound grenade and injured a Palestinian in the following clash.


2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers, Reactions, Israel, Violent Israeli reactions
On 2 July a 16-year-old Palestinian from Shu'fat camp, Mohammed Abu Khdeir, was killed; preliminary results from the autopsy suggest he was burnt alive. The boy's family believes the killing to be an act of revenge from Jewish settlers for the murder of the three Israeli teenagers. Netanyahu urged a swift inquiry into the "reprehensible murder" and called on people to respect the rule of law.


2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers, Reactions, Israel, Violent Israeli reactions
On the evening of 3 July, Palestinians of Shu'fat reported to the Israeli police that four settlers from Pisgat Zeev had attempted to kidnap a 7-year-old local child, and had fled on being thwarted. On Friday Palestinians of Osarin near Nablus in the West Bank complained that one of them, 22-year-old Tariq Ziad Zuhdi Adeli, had been sprayed with a gas by settlers, abducted in a car, taken outside the village and then sustained injuries from a hatchet attack to his legs.


2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers, Reactions, Israel, Violent Israeli reactions
Three days later, a video was aired, that appeared as the beating up of 15-year-old American citizen Tariq Abu Khdeir by Israeli security forces. Tariq, a second-cousin of murdered Mohammed Abu Khdeir, is a student who attends Universal Academy of Florida high school in Tampa, Florida. Israeli authorities then detained Tariq. The US State Department has called for "a speedy, transparent and credible investigation and full accountability for any excessive use of force." Israeli Border Police started an official investigation on 5 July.


2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers, Reactions, Palestine
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, defying widespread popular Palestinian support for the kidnapping as a means of securing the release of Palestinians held in Israeli jails, criticized the action, saying the youths must be returned, and that Palestinian Authority security was cooperating with Israel to try to locate them. Abbas' office released a statement condemning the kidnapping and the Israeli response of raids and arrests. At US urging, Abbas was working closely with Israel to coordinate the search for the teens. A PA spokesman stated that holding Palestinian authorities responsible for kidnappings in Area C of the West Bank, where Israel exercises full military control and prohibits a Palestinian police presence places the PA in an impossible position.


2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers, Reactions, Palestine
The Palestinian Authority's official newspaper marked the kidnapping with a cartoon that spoofed the World Cup logo. Three hands hold the globe in the FIFA World Cup logo, but in Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, three hands held small helpless figures with their hands up in surrender. While the World Cup logo says "Brazil" under it, the spoof says Khalil, the Arabic name for Hebron, a city near the site of the kidnapping.


2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers, Reactions, Palestine
A cartoon on a Fatah Facebook page presented the three kidnapped Israeli teenagers as rats caught on three hooks on a fishing rod. Each rat was emblazoned with a Star of David, and the title of the cartoon read "Masterstroke." A picture on the same Facebook page showed a hand with words written on three of the fingers. Read in succession they said: "Three Shalits, long live Palestine."


2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers, Reactions, Palestine
Hamas spokesmen Sami Abu Zuhri and Fawzi Barhoum criticized the PNA collaboration with Israel to track down the culprits, and Barhoum called the kidnappers "heroes."


2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers, Reactions, Palestine
In social media, many Palestinians criticized what they see as the strong emphasis placed by Israel on the teenagers' disappearance to the detriment of Palestinian suffering, citing the case of two Palestinian boys shot dead by Israelis at a protest in Beitunia during a Nakba Day protest on 15 May 2014.


2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers, Reactions, Palestine
On Twitter, in response to the IDF campaign, Palestinian sympathizers appropriated the hashtag as their own, drawing attention to both Palestinian prisoners in Israeli goals and Palestinian children killed by Israeli actions. One mentioned 5,271 Palestinian political prisoners, 192 administrative detainees, 17 women and 196 children. Senior Hamas and Islamic Jihad officials have stated that kidnapping Israeli soldiers and settlers is the only route to obtain the release of Palestinian prisoners. Palestinian Fatah and Hamas activists called on Palestinian shopkeepers and businessmen in Hebron, via Facebook, Twitter and other social media, to destroy any CCTV footage that could be used by Israel to help locate the teens. Fatah activists in Hebron also confiscated security cameras in order to frustrate the search.


2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers, Reactions, Palestine
In the Gaza Strip, families of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel celebrated the kidnapping by handing out sweets to passersby from a protest tent that had been erected to express solidarity. Gazan Palestinians also released a song on social networks mocking the kidnappings, and called for additional abductions. A Palestinian group mounted a video on YouTube parodying the abduction, in a fictional scenario featuring an "Abu Saqer el Khalili Brigades, the Kick Ass Branch,” apparently taking the event to be an Israeli plot with Arab complicity while mocking Islamic extremism.


2014 killings of NYPD officers
On December 20, 2014, Ismaaiyl Abdullah Brinsley shot and killed Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu – two on-duty New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers – in the Bedford–Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. Brinsley then fled into the New York City Subway, where he committed suicide. Earlier in the day, before he killed Ramos and Liu, Brinsley had shot and wounded his ex-girlfriend Shaneka Thompson in Baltimore after initially pointing the gun at his own head.


2014 killings of NYPD officers
The killings were ostensibly as revenge for the death of Eric Garner and the shooting of Michael Brown, both of which were deaths of black men reported by police as resisting arrest.


2014 killings of NYPD officers, Background and events
The shooting occurred just weeks after a grand jury decided not to indict NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo, who was responsible for the death of Eric Garner on July 17, 2014. The grand jury's decision resulted in widespread protests in New York City and across the nation against police brutality and the lack of accountability for it. The protests also coincided with widespread protests in response to a grand jury's decision not to indict Darren Wilson, the police officer who shot Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, on August 9. Brinsley's motive to kill the NYPD officers was motivated by outrage over the two deaths.


2014 killings of NYPD officers, Background and events
Before Brinsley arrived in Brooklyn by bus, he shot and seriously wounded his 29-year-old ex-girlfriend, Shaneka Nicole Thompson, in the Baltimore suburb of Owings Mills, Maryland, on Saturday morning. The second shooting occurred at Myrtle Avenue and Tompkins Avenue, a busy intersection in Brooklyn near the Tompkins Houses. Brinsley approached the passenger window of an NYPD patrol car occupied by Rafael Ramos, 40, and Wenjian Liu, 32, of Brooklyn's 84th Precinct. He then fired a semiautomatic handgun four times through the open window, striking Ramos and Liu in the head and upper body, killing both officers instantly.


2014 killings of NYPD officers, Background and events
Two Con Ed workers who witnessed the shooting notified police. After NYPD officers responding to the scene chased him onto the subway, he committed suicide with the handgun in the Myrtle–Willoughby Avenues (G train) subway station, according to police. Brinsley and the two police officers were taken to Woodhull Hospital, and all were pronounced dead on arrival.


2014 killings of NYPD officers, Officers killed, Rafael Ramos
Rafael Ramos (December 9, 1974 – December 20, 2014), married with two sons and a longtime resident of Glendale, Queens, had joined the NYPD as a school safety agent, before being promoted to officer in January 2012. He was active in his church, Christ Tabernacle in Glendale, and had once studied at a seminary. He had just completed a training course to become a volunteer chaplain. He planned to eventually join the ministry when he retired from the police force.


2014 killings of NYPD officers, Officers killed, Rafael Ramos
The Silver Shield Foundation, founded by the late New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, announced it would pay for the education of Ramos' 13-year-old son, Jaden. Bowdoin College said it would provide full financial aid to Ramos' elder son, who is a sophomore at the school, so he could complete his education.


2014 killings of NYPD officers, Officers killed, Rafael Ramos
A funeral service for Ramos, the largest police funeral in the city’s history, was held on December 27 in Glendale with over 100,000 people present, including many politicians such as Vice President Joe Biden; the service itself from start to finish was almost five hours long and was broadcast around the world, with many people coming from across the country to pay their respects to the slain officer. Afterward, Ramos' body was transported to St. John Cemetery in nearby Middle Village, where he was laid to rest. Hundreds of officers turned their backs to Mayor Bill de Blasio as he delivered his eulogy.


2014 killings of NYPD officers, Officers killed, Wenjian Liu
Wenjian Liu (simplified Chinese: 刘文健; traditional Chinese: 劉文健; pinyin: Liú Wénjiàn April 8, 1982 – December 20, 2014) was the only son of Chinese immigrants Weitang Liu and Xiuyan Li. He and his family came to the United States from Taishan, Guangdong in China, when he was 12 years old. He was a seven-year veteran officer of the NYPD who had married Peixia Chen in October 2014. He had no children at the time of death.


2014 killings of NYPD officers, Officers killed, Wenjian Liu
Following a wake on January 3 containing elements of Chinese and Buddhist rituals, a funeral service for Liu took place on January 4 at the Ralph Aievoli & Son Funeral Home in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn. In protest of de Blasio's perceived lack of support for them, some attending police officers turned their backs on the video screen showing de Blasio's eulogy speech; however, de Blasio and NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton were also saluted at the ceremony. Afterward, Liu's body was transported to Cypress Hills Cemetery in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn, and was laid to rest. After his burial, a post burial dinner, a Chinese tradition for honoring the deceased and giving his spirit a good send-off to heaven, was held in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.


2014 killings of NYPD officers, Officers killed, Wenjian Liu
According to articles from NBC News, New York Daily News, and Global News, on the night that Wenjian Liu passed away, under the request of the widow Peixia Chen with the approval of family members, the medical doctors retrieved and collected Liu's semen for preservation to allow Chen the chance to conceive a child belonging to her and Liu, which Chen eventually decided to request medical professionals to extract the sperm from Liu's preserved semen to artificially inseminate her with and she became successfully pregnant and then in July 2017, Chen gave birth to a girl named Angelina.


2014 killings of NYPD officers, Officers killed, Wenjian Liu
Ismaaiyl Abdullah Brinsley (October 31, 1986 – December 20, 2014) had a long criminal record and was estranged from his family prior to the shooting. He was born in Brooklyn. He had an arrest record for weapons possession and robbery, which amounted to a total of 19 arrests in Georgia and Ohio. He was convicted of felony gun possession in Georgia, where he was living at the time of the shooting.


2014 killings of NYPD officers, Officers killed, Wenjian Liu
Brinsley allegedly had ties to the Black Guerrilla Family, a prison gang that was reportedly planning revenge attacks on police officers according to police informants, and the Nuwaubian Nation, a black-supremacist cult originating in Georgia. But an unnamed federal law enforcement source has been quoted as saying there were no apparent ties. Daniel McCall, who was appointed to represent Brinsley in Georgia, said Brinsley was not difficult to represent and that no psychiatric problems were noticed at that time.


2014 killings of NYPD officers, Officers killed, Wenjian Liu
On the day of the attack, Brinsley had tried to commit suicide with his gun before killing the police officers, but he was talked out of it by his girlfriend, Shaneka Nicole Thompson, whom he then shot. Brinsley also attempted suicide a year previously. After the shooting, Brinsley reportedly called Thompson's mother and other family members and claimed the shooting was an accident. Brinsley wrote on his Instagram account of his intentions to kill police as retribution for the recent deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner.


2014 killings of NYPD officers, Officers killed, Wenjian Liu
In the post, which he made later that day while on a bus to New York City, he wrote, "I'm putting Wings on Pigs Today ... They Take 1 of Ours ... Lets Take 2 of Theirs. [ sic]" By then, the Baltimore County Police Department had been tracking Brinsley's movements from Baltimore to New York City, and sent a fax to the NYPD about his intentions just a minute before the killings occurred.


2014 killings of NYPD officers, Reactions, Current and former government officials
U.S. President Barack Obama stated, "I unconditionally condemn today's murder of two police officers in New York City. Two brave men won't be going home to their loved ones tonight, and for that, there is no justification. The officers who serve and protect our communities risk their own safety for ours every single day – and they deserve our respect and gratitude every single day. Tonight, I ask people to reject violence and words that harm, and turn to words that heal – prayer, patient dialogue, and sympathy for the friends and family of the fallen."


2014 killings of NYPD officers, Reactions, Current and former government officials
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, a former police officer, said, "Those who were calling for police reform were not calling for police retribution... blood is not on the hands of the mayor."


2014 killings of NYPD officers, Reactions, Current and former government officials
Former New York Governor George Pataki blamed current officials. He tweeted, "Sickened by these barbaric acts, which sadly are a predictable outcome of divisive anti-cop rhetoric of Eric Holder and Mayor de Blasio." The former Mayor, Rudolph Giuliani, responded that this is untrue and categorized this rhetoric as an over reaction.


2014 killings of NYPD officers, Reactions, Current and former government officials
Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani accused Obama of creating a hostile environment toward the police, stating: "We've had four months of propaganda starting with the President, that everybody should hate the police. I don't care how you want to describe it, that's what those protests are all about."


2014 killings of NYPD officers, Reactions, NYPD officers and police union
As Mayor de Blasio and his entourage walked through the third-floor corridor of Woodhull Hospital, where the two police officers had been pronounced dead hours earlier, dozens of NYPD police silently turned their backs on the mayor in protest for his perceived lack of support for them. Earlier, de Blasio had approached a group of cops in the hospital and told them, "We're all in this together." In response, one officer said, "No we're not."


2014 killings of NYPD officers, Reactions, NYPD officers and police union
The president of the police union group Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, Patrick J. Lynch, blamed de Blasio and the protesters of the grand jury dismissal in the Garner case for inciting hostility toward the NYPD. He said, "There's blood on many hands tonight. Those that incited violence on the street in the guise of protest, that tried to tear down what New York City police officers did every day. We tried to warn it must not go on, it shouldn't be tolerated. That blood on the hands starts at the steps of City Hall in the office of the mayor."


2014 killings of NYPD officers, Reactions, NYPD officers and police union
Fraternal Order of Police President Chuck Canterbury asked Congress to consider making crimes against police officers fall under the category of hate crimes. He said, "My thoughts and prayers over the past few weeks have been with the families of officers who were, with malice and forethought, gunned down just because they served as police officers."


2014 killings of NYPD officers, Reactions, Civil rights groups
Protest organizer Charles Wade said about civil rights groups, "We've all said that this is a horrible thing that shouldn't have happened. I say time and time again that I'm against police violence, and I'm not against police officers in general. I have an issue with improper policing, police violence and police impunity." Reverend Al Sharpton said, "From the beginning, we have stressed that this is a pursuit of justice to make the system work fairly for everyone. This is not about trying to take things into our own hands. That does not solve the problem of police brutality."


2014 killings of NYPD officers, Reactions, Civil rights groups
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People issued a statement condemning the murders.


2014 killings of NYPD officers, Reactions, Public
Pastor Michael A. Walrond Jr. of the First Corinthian Baptist Church in Harlem, said, "This tragic moment may be an opportunity for people to understand each other. The pain of a mother whose son lay dead on the ground is the same pain of a 13-year-old boy who lost his police officer father. My hope is that this will shock people into coming together."


2014 killings of NYPD officers, Reactions, Public
According to The Daily Beast, some bystanders at the crime scene reportedly cheered and expressed their support for the attack.


2014 killings of NYPD officers, Reactions, Entertainment
Many rappers, such as Azealia Banks, and Lecrae, also posted to Twitter, denouncing the murder-suicide.


2014 killings of NYPD officers, Reactions, Entertainment
Rapper The Game tweeted, "I guess y’all 'can’t breathe' either", resulting in backlash.


2014 killings of NYPD officers, Reactions, Media
Bob McManus, a columnist for the New York Post, criticized government officials for failing to condemn the blood-lust of protesters who demanded "dead cops" in retaliation for the death of Eric Garner. While not blaming the shooting on political leaders, an editorial in The Wall Street Journal argued that political leaders failed to respond to the protesters' chant—"What do we want? Dead cops.


2014 killings of NYPD officers, Reactions, Media
"—and that such a failure "contributed to a public climate of suspicion and hate against police in which a man like Ismaaiyl Brinsley can in his deranged mind think it is justified to stalk and execute two cops on the beat." Newsday defended New York City Mayor de Blasio, saying he did not create the animosity towards the police, which is long standing in some quarters; the editorial pointed out that the Mayor spoke out against previous physical attacks on police officers by protesters.


2014 killings of NYPD officers, Reactions, Media
As a result of the protest movement, there have also been calls to reform or abolish the grand jury process.


2014 killings of NYPD officers, Reactions, Families
Jaden Ramos, son of Officer Ramos, posted on Facebook, "Today I had to say bye to my father. He was [there] for me every day of my life, he was the best father I could ask for. It's horrible that someone gets shot dead just for being a police officer. Everyone says they hate cops but they are the people that they call for help. I will always love you and I will never forget you. RIP Dad."


2014 killings of NYPD officers, Reactions, Families
Richard Gonzales, a cousin of Ramos, urged citizens to come together and forgive the shooter.


2014 killings of NYPD officers, Aftermath
On December 22, de Blasio asked that anti-police protestors "suspend demonstrations." Earlier in the day, NYPD Commissioner William Bratton said the killings were a "direct spinoff of this issue [of the protests]". Some protesters issued blanket condemnations of the police as "racists and worse" according to The New York Times. While the investigations into Brinsley's motivation continues, Bratton has concluded that "the protests served as an inspiration for the disturbed man."


2014 killings of NYPD officers, Aftermath
Six people were arrested for making terroristic threats against NYPD officers in the week following the shooting. After a police union directive in December 2014, the police have been dispatching two cars in response to every call, contributing to a lack of manpower, and as a result, a 94% drop in summonses for minor offenses and a 66% reduction in arrests.


2014 killings of NYPD officers, Aftermath, Beating of Karim Baker
In April 2016, officers Angelo Pampena and Robert Carbone were charged with the retaliatory beating of mail carrier Karim Baker, who unwittingly provided Brinsley with directions. The beating was alleged to have occurred when the officers approached Baker in October 2015; according to the Queens district attorney, Baker was seated in his car when the officers punched and kicked him multiple times and dragged him from his car. Baker's lawyer said Baker sustained injures to his spine, knee and face, causing Baker to be unable to return to work.


2014 killings of NYPD officers, Aftermath, Beating of Karim Baker
Pampena stated in a criminal court complaint that the officers approached Baker because he had parked his car directly in front of a fire hydrant, but surveillance video footage showed Baker's car parked more than 15 feet away from the fire hydrant. There were audio recordings of the encounter based on calls to 911 from Baker's handphone during the time. The criminal case against Baker was dropped with the file sealed. In March 2017, they were found not guilty of all charges by judge Michael Aloise, and their case was sealed.


2014 local electoral calendar
This local electoral calendar for 2014 lists the subnational elections held in 2014. Referendums, retention elections, and national by-elections (special elections) are also included.


2014 mosque arson attacks in Sweden
The 2014 Sweden mosques arson attacks were a series of incidents all of which were initially believed to be arson attacks on three mosques in Sweden, that took place during one week at the end of 2014. In the third incident, in addition to being struck by a Molotov cocktail, the mosque at Uppsala was vandalized with racist graffiti. The first incident, the only one to have caused injuries, was however later found by police investigations to have been an accident in the mosque kitchen caused by an overheated deep-fryer.


2014 mosque arson attacks in Sweden, Accident and attacks
On Christmas Day, five people suffered injuries when, according to early reports, a petrol bomb had been tossed through the window of a mosque in Eskilstuna. Up to 20 people, including children, were in the mosque at the time of the attack. Police later said they were investigating the incident as an accident, considering it unlikely to have been a deliberate attack. It was later reported that an overheated deep-fryer was the probable cause of the fire.


2014 mosque arson attacks in Sweden, Accident and attacks
The second event (and first indisputable arson attack) took place on Monday 29 December in the southern Swedish town of Eslöv just after 3 am local time. No one was injured on that occasion.


2014 mosque arson attacks in Sweden, Accident and attacks
Early on New Year’s morning, there was another arson attack on a mosque, this time in Uppsala. In this attack the mosque was also vandalized with racist graffiti.


2014 mosque arson attacks in Sweden, Background
The attacks happened at a time of rising anti-immigrant sentiment and political tension over Sweden's status as the leading destination in the European Union (per capita) for asylum seekers.


2014 mosque arson attacks in Sweden, Response
Prime Minister Stefan Löfven said that the attacks were "hateful violence" and denounced the crime. He said that the attacks were not representative of Sweden. and that "no-one in Sweden should be afraid of practicing their religion".


2014 mosque arson attacks in Sweden, Response
Samir Muric, the imam in Eslöv, told a Swedish news agency: "Unfortunately this is probably something to do with Islamophobia. I live nearby, and it’s beginning to feel unsafe."


2014 mosque arson attacks in Sweden, Response
On January 2, 2015, hundreds of anti-racist demonstrators in three major Swedish cities rallied in support of Muslims.


2014 national electoral calendar
This national electoral calendar for 2014 lists the national/federal direct elections that were held in 2014 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included.


2014 national electoral calendar, Indirect elections
The following indirect elections of heads of state and the upper houses of bicameral legislatures took place through votes in elected lower houses, unicameral legislatures, or electoral colleges:


2014 national road cycling championships
This is the current revision of this page, as edited by 149.167.135.198 (talk) at 12:26, 18 July 2021. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this version.


2014 national road cycling championships
The 2014 national road cycling championships began in Australia with the time trial event (both men and women) on January 8, as is tradition.


2014 national road cycling championships, Jerseys
The winner of each national championship wears the national jersey in all their races for the next year in the respective discipline, apart from the World Championships and the Olympics, or unless they are wearing a category leader's jersey in a stage race. Most national champion jerseys tend to represent a country's flag or use the colours from it. Jerseys may also feature traditional sporting colours of a country that are not derived from a national flag, such as the green and gold on the jerseys of Australian national champions.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine
From the end of February 2014, demonstrations by pro-Russian and anti-government groups took place in major cities across the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine, in the aftermath of the Euromaidan movement and the 2014 Ukrainian revolution. During the first stage of the unrest, known as the "Russian Spring" (Russian: Русская весна, romanized: Russkaya Vesna), the Ukrainian territory of Crimea was annexed by the Russian Federation after a Russian military intervention, and an internationally criticized (based on UN resolution 68/262) Crimean referendum. Protests in Donetsk and Luhansk regions (oblasts) escalated into an armed pro-Russian separatist insurgency.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine
From late 2014, cities outside of the Donbas combat zone, such as Kharkiv, Odessa, Kyiv and Mariupol, were struck by bombings that targeted pro-Ukrainian unity organizations. To maintain control over southern and eastern Ukraine, the government launched an "Anti- Terrorist Operation" (ATO), sending in the armed forces to quell the unrest.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Background
Ukraine became gripped by unrest when President Viktor Yanukovych refused to sign an association agreement with the European Union on 21 November 2013. An organized political movement known as 'Euromaidan' demanded closer ties with the European Union, and the ousting of Yanukovych. This movement was ultimately successful, culminating in the February 2014 revolution, which removed Yanukovych and his government. However, some people in largely Russophone eastern and southern Ukraine, the traditional bases of support for Yanukovych and his Party of the Regions, did not approve of the revolution, and began to protest in favour of closer ties with Russia. Various demonstrations were held in Crimea in favour of leaving Ukraine and accession to the Russian Federation, leading to the 2014 Crimean crisis.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Background
On 1 March, regional state administration (RSA) buildings in various eastern Ukrainian oblasts were briefly occupied by pro-Russian activists. By 11 March, all occupations had ended, after units of the local police and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) re-took the buildings. In Donetsk, protests escalated into violence on multiple occasions, including on 13 March, when a pro-Ukrainian protester was stabbed to death. In Kharkiv, Patriots of Ukraine militants killed an anti-Maidan protester and a passer-by on the night of 15 March, when anti-Maidan protesters attacked the Right Sector headquarters in the city.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Background
The attendees of the protests included Russian citizens from across the border who came to support the efforts of pro-Russian activists in Ukraine. Donetsk oblast governor Serhiy Taruta said that rallies in Donetsk contained ex-convicts and others who travelled from Crimea. Ukraine's police and border guards had denied more than 8,200 Russians entry into Ukraine between 4 and 25 March. On 27 March, National Security and Defence Council Secretary Andriy Parubiy said that between 500 and 700 Russians were being denied entry daily.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Background
On 17 April, during the twelfth Direct Line with Vladimir Putin programme, the use of the Russian Armed Forces in Crimea, along with Crimean self-defence troops, was avowed by the Russian president, but he denied claims by the Ukrainian government, the European Union, and the United States, that Russian Special Forces were fomenting unrest in eastern Ukraine.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Background, Public opinion in Ukraine
A poll conducted by Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) from 8–18 February 2014 assessed support for union with Russia throughout Ukraine. It found that, overall, 12% of those polled favoured union with Russia. 68.0% of those from the four regions surveyed agreed that Ukraine should remain independent, with friendly relations maintained between Russia and Ukraine.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Background, Public opinion in Ukraine
Support for a union between Russia and Ukraine was found to be much higher in certain areas:


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Background, Public opinion in Ukraine
An April 2014 Kyiv International Institute of Sociology poll of all of the oblasts of southern and eastern Ukraine other than Crimea (which was already annexed by Russia at that point in time) found majority opposition to secession from Ukraine and annexation by Russia in all of these oblasts–albeit only slight majority opposition to this in the Donbas Oblasts.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Background, Public opinion in Ukraine
Opposition to secession from Ukraine and annexation by Russia (the combined percentage for the people opting for the options of "Rather, no" and "Certainly, no, I don't") had these percentages in various southern and eastern Ukrainian oblasts:


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Background, Public opinion in Ukraine
In an opinion poll conducted from 14–26 March by the International Republican Institute, 26–27% of those polled in southern and eastern Ukraine viewed the Euromaidan protests as a coup d'état. Only 5% of respondents in eastern Ukraine felt that Russian-speakers were 'definitely' under pressure or threat. 43% of ethnic Russians ('definitely' or 'rather') supported the decision of the Russian Federation to send its military to protect Russian-speaking citizens of Ukraine.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Background, Public opinion in Ukraine
In the poll, 22% of those in southern Ukraine, and 26% of those in eastern Ukraine supported the idea of federalization for the country; 69% of southerners and 53% of easterners supported Ukraine remaining as a unitary state; and only 2% of southerners and 4% of easterners supported separatism. 59% of those polled in eastern Ukraine would like to join the Russian-led customs union, while only 22% were in favour of joining the European Union. 37% of southerners would prefer to join this customs union, while 29% were in favour of joining the EU.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Background, Public opinion in Ukraine
90% of those polled in western Ukraine wanted to enter an economic union with EU, while only 4% favoured the customs union led by Russia. Among all the Ukrainians polled overall, 34% favour joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, while 44% are against joining it. In eastern Ukraine and southern Ukraine, only 14% and 11% of the respondents respectively favour joining NATO, while 67% in eastern Ukraine and 52% in southern Ukraine oppose joining it. 72% of people polled in eastern Ukraine thought that the country was going in the wrong direction, compared with only 36% in western Ukraine.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Background, Public opinion in Ukraine
A poll conducted by the Institute of Social Research and Policy Analysis analysed the identities of Donetsk inhabitants. While support for separatism was low, just over a third of polled Donetsk inhabitants identified themselves as "citizens of Ukraine". More preferred "Russian-speaking residents of Ukraine" or "residents of Donbas". The same poll determined that 66% of Donetsk residents that were polled supported remaining in a unified Ukraine, while 18.2% supported joining Russia, and 4.7% supported independence. A second poll conducted from 26–29 March showed that 77% of residents condemned the takeover of administrative buildings, while 16% supported such actions.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Background, Public opinion in Ukraine
Furthermore, 40.8% of Donetsk citizens supported rallies for Ukraine's unity, while 26.5% supported pro-Russian rallies. In another research poll conducted 8–16 April by KIIS, a vast majority disapproved of the seizure of administrative buildings by protesters. Over 50% of those polled in southern and eastern Ukraine considered acting President Oleksandr Turchynov to be illegitimate. Most of those polled in southern and eastern Ukraine believed that the disarmament and disbandment of illegal radical groups is crucial to preserving national unity.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Background, Public opinion in Ukraine
19.1% of those polled in southern and eastern Ukraine believed that Ukraine should be an independent state, 45.2% were for an independent state but with decentralization of the power to the regions, but most felt Russia and Ukraine should share open borders without visa restrictions; 8.4% were in favour of Ukraine and Russia uniting into a single state. 15.4% said they favoured secession of their region to join the Russian Federation, and 24.8% favoured Ukraine becoming a federation.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Background, Public opinion in Ukraine
Most of those polled said they found nothing attractive about Russia, but those who did, did so for economic, and not cultural reasons. Those polled in southern and eastern Ukraine were generally split on the legitimacy of the present government and parliament, but a majority in all regions agreed that deposed president Viktor Yanukovych was not the legal president of the country. In all regions but the Donbas, pro-Euromaidan oligarch Petro Poroshenko dominated preliminary election polls.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Background, Public opinion in Ukraine
A comprehensive poll released on 8 May by the Pew Research Centre surveyed opinions in Ukraine and Crimea on the subject of the unrest. The poll was taken after the annexation of Crimea, but prior to the clashes in Odessa on 2 May. 93% of westerners and 70% of easterners polled said that they wanted Ukraine to remain united. Despite international criticism of 16 March referendum on Crimean status, 91% of those Crimeans polled thought that the vote was free and fair, and 88% said that the Ukrainian government should recognize the results.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Background, Anti-Maidan
During the Euromaidan revolution there were widespread reports that pro-Yanukovych and pro-Russian 'anti-Maidan' protesters were paid for their support. Oleksiy Haran, a political scientist at Kyiv Mohyla Academy in Kyiv has stated that: "People at anti-Maidan stand for money only. The government uses these hirelings to provoke resistance. They won't be sacrificing anything". Russian leader of the extremist Eurasian Youth Union Oleg Bakhtiyarov was arrested for, in part, recruiting rioters for 500 US dollars each to assist in the storming of government buildings. On 13 April, the Internal Affairs Ministry stated that recruiters were found to be paying 500 US dollars to take part in the attacks, and roughly 40 US dollars to occupy buildings.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Background, Anti-Maidan
Reports of paid protesters were supported by Party of Regions member Volodymyr Landik, the First Deputy Prime Minister Vitaliy Yarema, journalist Serhiy Leshchenko, and a report released by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Background, Media portrayal
Russian and Ukrainian sources differed greatly in the way they portrayed the demonstrators. Militants who took over government buildings in Donetsk Oblast were consistently labeled as "separatists" and "terrorists" by the Ukrainian government and the western media, whilst Russian media and officials referred to as "supporters of federalization". Russian media and the militants themselves referred to the Ukrainian transitional government in Kyiv as the "Bandera junta", referencing the Ukrainian nationalist Stepan Bandera, and also as "fascist", and "nationalist".


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Background, Media portrayal
In the Ukrainian media, "Colorado beetle" (Ukrainian: колорадський жук, romanized: koloradsʹkyy zhuk) was used as a derogatory word for the pro-Russian demonstrators and militants, in reference to the Ribbon of St George they wore. Starting in the Russian media, the wave of unrest came to be referred to as the "Russian Spring", a reference to both the Prague Spring of 1968 and the Arab Spring of 2010–2011.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Crimea
Beginning on 26 February, pro-Russian forces, subsequently confirmed to be Russian troops by Vladimir Putin, began to gradually take control of the Crimean Peninsula. During this time, the question of joining the Russian Federation was put to a referendum, which had an official turnout of 83 per cent and resulted in a 96% affirmative vote but has been condemned by the EU, the United States, Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar officials as contrary to Ukraine's constitution and to international law. On 17 March, the Crimean Parliament declared independence from Ukraine and asked to join the Russian Federation.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Crimea
On 18 March, Russia and Crimea signed a treaty of accession of the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol into the Russian Federation. On 21 March, the accession treaty was ratified and the establishment of two new constituent entities in the Russian Federation was marked by a 30 gun salute under an executive order of the Russian President. The U.N. General Assembly passed a non-binding resolution that declared that the referendum was invalid, and the incorporation of Crimea into Russia as illegal.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Crimea
By 1 April, around 3,000 people had fled Crimea after its annexation. 80% of those who fled were Crimean Tatars. Teams from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast and Chernivtsi Oblast have assisted internally displaced persons who have resettled in western Ukraine from Crimea. Numbers of refugees, primarily Crimean Tatars, continued to rise, and by 20 May the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that about 10,000 people had been displaced.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Donetsk Oblast
Pro -Russian protesters occupied the Donetsk regional state administration (RSA) building from 1 to 6 March, before being removed by the Security Service of Ukraine.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Donetsk Oblast
According to the Ukrainian government, the seizure of RSA buildings by pro-Russian forces was part of "a script" which was "written in the Russian Federation" to destabilize Ukraine, carried out by "about 1,500 radicals in each region who spoke with clear Russian accents".


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Donetsk Oblast
13 March was marked by violent clashes between pro-Maidan and anti-Maidan protesters in Donetsk. A large group of anti-Maidan protesters broke through a police cordon and began to attack a smaller pro-Maidan demonstration. In interviews with OSCE monitors, bystanders described how a group of around thirty pro-Maidan protesters "were forced to seek shelter in a police bus that became surrounded by anti-Maidan attackers". The windows of the bus "were smashed, and irritant gas was dispersed inside, forcing the group to exit the bus, where they were then subjected to beatings and verbal abuse".


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Donetsk Oblast
A report by the OSCE said that "police forces" failed "to take adequate measure to protect the pro-Maidan assembly", and "could be observed treating the anti-Maidan protesters in a favourable manner". A local pro-Maidan activist was killed by anti-Maidan protesters during the clashes. After this day of violence, interviewees told the OSCE that residents of Donetsk had decided not to organize more peaceful pro-Maidan demonstrations, "out of fear for their safety".


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Donetsk Oblast
On Sunday, 6 April, around 1,000 pro-Russia protesters attended a rally in Donetsk pushing for a referendum on independence. Subsequently, 100 separatists (according to Igor Dyomin, a spokesman for Donetsk local police) took control of the first two floors of the RSA building, breaking down doors and smashing windows. The separatists demanded that if an extraordinary session was not held by officials, announcing a referendum to join Russia, they would declare unilateral control by forming a "People's Mandate" at noon on 7 April, and dismiss all elected council members and MPs.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Donetsk Oblast
The people who voted within the RSA were not elected to the positions they assumed. According to the Information Telegraph Agency of Russia, the declaration was voted on by some regional legislators, however other reports say that neither the Donetsk city administration nor local district councils in city neighbourhoods delegated any representatives to the session.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Donetsk Oblast
On 6 April, the leaders of the separatist group Donetsk Republic announced that a referendum, on whether Donetsk Oblast should "join the Russian Federation", would take place "no later than 11 May 2014." Additionally, the group's leaders have appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin to send Russian peacekeeping forces to the region The group has been banned in Ukraine since 2007. The group's leader, Andrei Purgin, was arrested weeks prior on charges of separatism. The political leader of the state is the self-declared People's Governor Pavel Gubarev, a former member of the Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine. who is also currently arrested on charges of separatism.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Donetsk Oblast
In response to the actions, acting Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov vowed to launch a major counter-terrorism operation against separatist movements in the country's eastern regions. Later that day, the SBU office in Donetsk was retaken by SBU Alpha Group. Turchynov has offered amnesty to the separatists if they lay down their arms and surrender, and has also offered concessions that include potential devolution of power to regions, and the protection of the Russian language in law. Many in Donetsk have expressed disapproval toward the actions of the separatists.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Donetsk Oblast, Government building seizures
On 12 April, a group of masked militants, which was formed in Crimea and led by former officer of Russian security services Igor Girkin, captured the executive committee building, the police department and SBU office in Sloviansk, a city in the northern part of the Donetsk Oblast. Ukrainian Internal Affairs Minister Arsen Avakov labelled the gunmen as "terrorists", and swore to use the Ukrainian special forces to retake the building.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Donetsk Oblast, Government building seizures
Seizures of police stations and other government buildings by armed separatist groups also occurred in other cities in Donetsk Oblast, including Donetsk City proper, Kramatorsk, Druzhkivka, Horlivka, Mariupol and Yenakiieve. Ukrainian transitional president Oleksandr Turchynov launched a full-scale 'anti-terror' military operation to reclaim the buildings.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Donetsk Oblast, Government building seizures
Vitaliy Yarema, the Ukrainian vice prime minister for law enforcement, alleged that Russian Special Forces units, including the 45th Parachute Guards Regiment usually stationed near Moscow, were operating on Ukrainian territory in the cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk. On 16 April, the alleged number of Russian special forces troops was 450.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Donetsk Oblast, Government building seizures
By 16 April, the 'anti-terror' operation being conducted by the Ukrainian government in Donetsk Oblast had hit some stumbling blocks. Protesters seized Ukrainian armoured vehicles in Kramatorsk, and sent soldiers away in Sloviansk.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Donetsk Oblast, Government building seizures
During the night of 16 April, about 300 pro-Russian protesters attacked a Ukrainian military unit in Mariupol, throwing petrol bombs. Internal Affairs Minister Arsen Avakov said that troops were forced to open fire, resulting in the killing of three of the attackers.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Donetsk Oblast, Government building seizures
The Geneva Statement of 17 April did not result in the end of the government building occupations in Donetsk Oblast. Two pro-Russian groups in Mariupol said that they 'felt betrayed' by the action taken in Geneva. A truce declared for Easter Sunday was broken by an attack upon a separatist checkpoint in Sloviansk, further inflaming tensions.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Donetsk Oblast, Government building seizures
The situation remained tense on 23 April, with occupation of government buildings ongoing throughout the region. OSCE monitors observed that the city administration building, SBU building, and police station in Sloviansk remained heavily fortified by armed groups of men with masks and automatic weapons. The city remained quiet, with no protests occurring. However, the monitors believed that the city remained under heavy surveillance, both by people in uniforms and masks, but also by many persons in civilian clothing. One resident said that people in Sloviansk were afraid to discuss their opinions of the occupiers.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Donetsk Oblast, Government building seizures
On 24 April, Ukrainian forces made a series of 'probing attacks' into Sloviansk against the insurgents. The self-proclaimed separatist mayor of the city, Vyacheslav Ponomarev, declared in response that 'We will make Stalingrad out of this town'. The Ukrainian government then stated on 25 April that it would 'fully blockade the city of Sloviansk', and continue with the 'anti-terror' operation. Amid the increasing tensions, separatists in Sloviansk detained seven international monitors on an OSCE military verification mission in Ukraine, who had been travelling into the city on a bus, along with the bus driver and five accompanying Ukrainian soldiers. The journalists were being held at the occupied SBU building. Access to the city remained unrestricted despite the supposed Ukrainian army blockade, with separatist barricades manned by fewer people then on previous days. Local residents said that the separatist administration in Sloviansk provided no administrative services to citizens.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Donetsk Oblast, Government building seizures
Leaflets released by the Donetsk People's Republic were distributed on 26 April, notifying citizens of a referendum on the question of whether or not they support the proclamation of "state sovereignty" by the Republic to be held on 11 May. In the morning on the next day, two members of the OSCE special monitoring mission were held by a group of unarmed men from the Donbas People's Militia in Yenakiieve. They were taken to the occupied city hall, questioned, and then released after a letter sent by the mission's office in Kyiv confirmed the credentials of the monitors. A large pro-government rally in Donetsk city marched in protest against the violence in Donetsk Oblast, and the attempted assassination of Kharkiv mayor Hennadiy Kernes on 28 April. The rally was swiftly and violently broken up by separatists armed with baseball bats, iron rods, firecrackers and shields.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Donetsk Oblast, Second counter-offensive
A new counter-offensive by government forces on Sloviansk during the early morning of 2 May resulted in the downing of two government helicopters, and some casualties on both sides. As a result, Ukrainian forces gained control of all separatist checkpoints, and of half the city. President Oleksandr Turchynov said that many separatists were "killed, injured and arrested". In the early morning on the next day, the counter-offensive then targeted to Kramatorsk, and Andriivka. Serious fighting resulted in the recapture of the occupied buildings in Kramatorsk by government forces, and at least ten separatists were said to have been killed in Andriivka.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Donetsk Oblast, Second counter-offensive
As fighting continued in Donetsk Oblast, all of the international military monitors who had been held in Sloviansk were released by Vyacheslav Ponomaryov on 3 May. On the same day, protesters in the city of Donetsk stormed and occupied the chairman of the regional government's private business office and the SBU building, smashing windows and ransacking files as an act of revenge for the clashes in Odessa.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Donetsk Oblast, Second counter-offensive
Kramatorsk was reoccupied by militants on 4 May, and Sloviansk saw renewed fighting on 5 May, resulting in the deaths of four Ukrainian soldiers. Fierce fighting took place in Mariupol from 5 May. Posters plastered on the occupied city administration read "OSCE get out" or "OSCE you cheat". As part of the counter-offensive, government forces recaptured the building on 7 May, but then left it, allowing for the separatists to quickly re-occupy it.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Donetsk Oblast, Second counter-offensive
Occupied buildings in Donetsk had been heavily fortified by 6 May, and Donetsk International Airport was closed to all traffic. The regional television broadcasting centre remained occupied by about thirty camouflaged insurgents with AK-47s. A BTR-70 was parked outside building, along with barricades made of sandbags and tyres. A similar presence was observed at the RSA building.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Donetsk Oblast, Second counter-offensive
On 7 May, Russian president Vladimir Putin asked the separatists to delay the planned 11 May referendum on the status of Donetsk. Denis Pushilin, the leader of the Donetsk People's Republic, said that the referendum would not be delayed. In response, Ukrainian transitional prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk referred to Putin's words "hot air", and vowed that the counter-offensive in Donetsk would continue.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Donetsk Oblast, Second counter-offensive
A large skirmish erupted in Mariupol on 9 May, when government troops launched an attack on a police station in the city, resulting in the killing of at least twenty people. These were described by the Ukrainian government as "militants" and "terrorists", though some local residents said that they were unarmed protestors.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Donetsk Oblast, Referendum
The disputed referendum on the status of Donetsk Oblast was held on 11 May. According to representatives of the Donetsk People's Republic, 89% voted in favour of self-rule, and 10% voted against. Turnout was said to be 75%. OSCE monitors did not observe the referendum, as the situation in Donetsk after the skirmish in Mariupol was said to be "volatile", forcing them to restrict their operations in the region. After the results were announced, leader of the Republic Denis Pushilin said that "all Ukrainian military troops in the region would be considered occupying forces". In response to the perceived weakness of the Ukrainian army, some Ukrainians who oppose the insurgents formed the "Donbas Volunteer Battalion", modelled on the Ukrainian partisan groups that fought against both the German Reich and the Soviet Union during the Second World War.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Donetsk Oblast, Referendum
Steelworkers and security guards from Metinvest, along with local police, began joint patrols in the city of Mariupol on 15 May. These groups forced the insurgents out of the buildings that they had been occupying. A representative of Mariupol supporters of the Donetsk People's Republic, Denis Kuzmenko, was party to a deal which led to this vacation of buildings by the insurgents, but a local commander of those insurgents who had been occupying the building said that "someone is trying to sow discord among us, someone has signed something, but we will continue our fight", and that "everyone ran away".


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Donetsk Oblast, Referendum
Steelworkers could be seen removing barricades from the city centre, and also cleaning up the burnt city administration building. By the morning of 16 May, Associated Press journalists could find no trace of the insurgents in Mariupol city centre. On 16 May, however, it seemed that separatists were not banished from the city, as reporters from The Washington Post said that about a hundred pro-Russian activists gathered on the steps of the city administration building, and that the separatist flag continued to fly over it.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Donetsk Oblast, Referendum
Rinat Akhmetov, oligarch and owner of Metinvest, called for non-violent protests against the separatists in Donbas on 19 May. In response to this call, cars gathered in front of the Donetsk RSA building and continually honked their horns. OSCE monitors said that some elderly people threw stones and water bottles at the cars as they passed by the RSA. Another group of thirty people outside the RSA chanted the slogan "Akhmetov is an enemy of the people" while holding banners that said "Akhmetov is a thief and is a supporter of fascism" and "Are you a slave to Akhmetov?"


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Donetsk Oblast, Referendum
The confederal state of Novorossiya was proclaimed by Pavel Gubarev on 22 May, incorporating both the Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic. "New Russia" (Russian: Novorossiya) hearkens back to a term used by the Russian Empire to refer to modern eastern and southern Ukraine. A few days later, on 26 May, a heated battle broke out between separatist insurgents that had been in control of Donetsk International Airport, and Ukrainian government forces. Around fifty insurgents were killed in the fighting, which resulted in their losing control of the airport. Chechen paramilitaries, along with others from Russia, fought Ukrainian forces during the battle. According to Artur Gasparian, a member of the insurgent unit that had been holding airport, the majority of the separatists' losses were due to friendly fire.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Donetsk Oblast, Referendum
Members of the Vostok battalion, the pro-Russian insurgent group that fought Ukrainian forces at the airport, took control over the Donetsk RSA building on 28 May, and removed the leaders of the Donetsk People's Republic. Participants in the action said that it was an "emergency measure" to halt "a sharp rise in looting and crime, as well as disorder within leadership". They were seen clearing barricades and rubbish left by those previously in control of the building.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Donetsk Oblast, Continued fighting
Fighting continued through the month of June. As part of Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko's fifteen-point peace plan, a frequently broken ceasefire spanned from 20 June until the 30th. A renewed government offensive after the ceasefire broke down resulted in heavy losses for the separatists, forcing them to withdraw from northern Donetsk Oblast, including many cities that had been under their control since April, such as Sloviansk, Druzhkivka, Kostyantynivka, and Kramatorsk. Heavy fighting continued in the following months, until the signing of the Minsk Protocol in early September, which established a ceasefire.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Donetsk Oblast, Attacks on journalists
There have been a number of attacks on members of the press by members of the separatists in Donetsk. On 10 April, protesters outside the Donetsk RSA attacked Belarusian journalists for speaking the Belarusian language, and not Russian; Ukrainian journalists were forced to speak Russian to avoid angering pro-Russian protesters. According to Kyiv Post, they also attacked reporters from Russia Today, but RT did not carry the story. Days later on 12 April, a group of 150 people supported the armed militants outside the police station in Sloviansk were hostile to journalists, telling them to "go back to Kyiv."


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Donetsk Oblast, Attacks on journalists
An unknown man set the car of the editor-in-chief of the News of Donbas on fire. The editor had been receiving anonymous threats from the separatists. On 19 April, the offices of a local newspaper Pro Gorod in Torez, 80 kilometres (50 mi) south-east of Donetsk, were set on fire.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Donetsk Oblast, Attacks on journalists
Separatists torched the offices of the newspaper Provintsia in Kostiantynivka on 23 April, after previously harassing newspaper staff and labelling them as members of the 'Right Sector movement'. Stepan Chirich, a Belarusian reporter with the Russian NTV channel disappeared in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. Another journalist, Evgenii Gapich, a photographer for the Reporter newspaper from Ivano-Frankivsk disappeared in Horlivka. His whereabouts are unknown, but allegedly he has been held in detention by separatist forces in Sloviansk. Furthermore, Simon Ostrovsky, a journalist with Vice News, was captured by unidentified people in uniform in Sloviansk, and released after four days. British journalist Graham Phillips was taken captive by both the separatists, and the Ukrainian army.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Donetsk Oblast, Attacks on journalists
A report by Human Rights Watch criticized the Ukrainian government for "the serial arrests of Russian journalists in Ukraine".


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Luhansk Oblast
In protest against the proposed cancelling of the regional language law, the regional administration of Luhansk Oblast voted to demand that the Russian language be given official language status. They also demanded the stopping of the persecution of former Berkut officers, the disarming of Maidan self-defence units, and the banning of a number of far-right political organizations, like Svoboda and UNA-UNSO. In the event that the authorities failed to comply with the demands, the Oblast administration reserved the "right to ask for help from the brotherly people of the Russian Federation".


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Luhansk Oblast
Government buildings in Luhansk have been occupied multiple times. A peaceful pro-Maidan demonstration on Heroes Square, outside the Luhansk city administration building, was attacked by anti-Maidan counter-demonstrators on 9 March. The attackers then stormed the building, and occupied it, but were swiftly removed by government forces. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) local headquarters was occupied on 6 April, along with the SBU's armoury of over 300 machine guns. Pro -Russian activists discussed plans for a "Luhansk Parliamentary Republic" on 8 April 2014. 1,500 were involved in the building's occupation. The occupiers referred to themselves as the Army of the South-East (Russian: Армия Юго-Востока). According to The Guardian, the personnel include former members of the Berkut special police.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Luhansk Oblast
The mood remained tense in Luhansk on 14 April. During the morning, up to 300 persons were observed at the entrance of the SBU building. There has been no indication that pro-Russian demonstrators in Luhansk would enact the terms of the Geneva Statement on Ukraine, and demonstrations have continued. Those occupying the SBU building told OSCE monitors on 20 April that they would demobilize once occupied buildings in Kyiv were vacated by Euromaidan supporters. The monitors also encountered a roadblock near the village of Rayhorodka, in Novoaidar Raion.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Luhansk Oblast
It was manned by about ten people in civilian clothes, including the local Orthodox priest. They stated that they set up the roadblock on 14 April to protect their village from any separatist incursions. A commander of the Ukrainian army indicated that no incidents had occurred at the roadblock so far, but that unknown armed individuals had been seen approaching it in the night.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Luhansk Oblast
A rally outside the SBU building to elect a 'people's government' in Luhansk occurred on 21 April. At the rally, protesters called for an 11 May referendum on the status of Luhansk Oblast with three options: be part of a Ukrainian Federation, join the Russian Federation or remain part of a unitary Ukraine. Around 1,500 participants were observed at the peak of the rally. The leaders of the rally said that they were not separatists, and sought a peaceful solution, which would allow Luhansk to remain within Ukraine.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Luhansk Oblast
The OSCE monitoring mission reported that the situation in Luhansk on 23 April was 'stable', and that the area around the occupied SBU building was 'quiet'. The monitors met with representatives of a non-governmental organization that said they had been held captive for six hours within the building on 21 April, and that about 100 men in unmarked uniforms with machine guns were present inside it at the time.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Luhansk Oblast, Escalation
Several hundred protesters that had gathered outside the occupied SBU building proclaimed the "Luhansk People's Republic" on 27 April. They demanded that Ukrainian government provide amnesty for all protesters, enshrine Russian as an official language, and hold a referendum on the status of the region. They issued an ultimatum that stated that if Kyiv did not meet their demands by 14:00 on 29 April, they would launch an insurgency in tandem with that of the Donetsk People's Republic.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Luhansk Oblast, Escalation
As these demands were not met, 2,000 to 3,000 protestors stormed the Luhansk RSA building on 29 April. Previously, only the SBU building had been targeted. The building was unprotected on the exterior, but a group of riot police confronted the protesters in an inner courtyard of the building. A brief standoff resulted, but the police did nothing to stop the protesters. A Russian flag was raised over the building. Several other buildings, including a police station and the local prosecutor's office were later seized.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Luhansk Oblast, Escalation
Twenty separatist gunmen fired machine guns at the police station to force the officers within to surrender. President Oleksander Turchynov responded to the loss of the buildings by demanding the immediate resignation of police chiefs in Donetsk and Luhansk. By 2 May, however, pro-Russian protesters occupying the city council and the television centre had left, and the prosecutors office was freed following negotiations between authorities and separatists.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Luhansk Oblast, Escalation
The next day, however, separatist leader and self-proclaimed mayor of Luhansk Valeriy Bolotov announced the formation of a "South-Eastern Army" to march on Kyiv. Bolotov also declared a state of emergency, introduced a curfew, a ban on political parties, and a mandate that local law enforcement officials must take an oath of allegiance to him. In a video statement, he said "In case of not following this, you will be announced traitors of people of Luhansk and wartime measures will be taken against you".


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Luhansk Oblast, Escalation
A GAZ Tigr heavy armoured vehicle emblazoned with the emblem of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia was seen parked outside the RSA building on 8 May, along with men in military gear and assault rifles. Whilst speaking to OSCE monitors, the Deputy Governor of Luhansk Oblast said that the "security situation in the region is deteriorating due to activities of the separatists and criminal gangs". Members of the OSCE special monitoring mission were later stopped at an 'illegal' checkpoint near the village of Shchastya, and held for three hours before being released.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Luhansk Oblast, Referendum
The disputed referendum on the status of Luhansk Oblast was held on 11 May. According to RIA Novosti, 96.2% voted in favour of self-rule. Valeriy Bolotov, leader of the Republic, declared "martial law" on 22 May. OSCE monitors said that around 70% of "shops, cafés and banks" were closed in Luhansk city centre. Those shops that were still open were said to be sold out of some necessities, and fuel was not available. Police were entirely absent.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Luhansk Oblast, Referendum
The confederal state of Novorossiya was proclaimed by Pavel Gubarev on 22 May, incorporating both the Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic. "Novorossiya" hearkens back to a term used by the Russian Empire to refer to modern eastern and southern Ukraine.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Luhansk Oblast, Referendum
Explosions struck the RSA building in Luhansk on 2 June, killing eight people, and wounding twenty-eight. Russian media reported that the explosions were caused by an airstrike by Ukrainian government forces. Ukrainian government officials denied this, and said that the insurgents had fired an anti-aircraft missile at themselves. The next day, the OSCE special monitoring mission said that based on "limited observation", the "strikes were the result of non-guided rockets shot from an aircraft".


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Luhansk Oblast, Referendum
A CNN investigation found clear evidence that the detonations came from the air and the pattern of the craters suggested use of standard equipment on the Su-25, a ground-attack fighter, and the Su-27—both combat aircraft operated by Ukraine. Analysis of RadioLiberty also concluded that "Despite Denials, All Evidence For Deadly Explosion Points To Kyiv". Heavy fighting in the region continued over the following months, until the signing of the Minsk Protocol in early September, which established a ceasefire.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Kharkiv Oblast
Protests have been held also in Kharkiv Oblast, and the regional state administration building there was occupied multiple times.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Kharkiv Oblast
Unrest first gripped Kharkiv city on 22 February 2014, when Euromaidan protesters occupied the Kharkiv regional state administration (RSA) building. Later that day, several thousand protesters tripped to topple a statue of Vladimir Lenin that stood opposite to the RSA building in Freedom Square. Several taxi drivers defended the monument, injuring several of the protesters. By the next day, several thousand pro-Russian protesters had gathered in square to protect the statue. They set up a perimeter fence around it.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Kharkiv Oblast
Then governor of Kharkiv Oblast Mykhailo Dobkin made a speech to the defenders of the statue, saying that the statue was "a symbol of our city... we will leave it here and we will defend it". Local police kept Euromaidan and Anti- Maidan protesters apart until 1 March. On that day, pro-Russian activists stormed the RSA building, assaulted the Euromaidan activists who had been occupying it, and raised the Russian flag over the building. Some of the protesters were Russian citizens who had travelled to Kharkiv from Russia.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Kharkiv Oblast
According to the local media, 2,000 Russians were brought by buses with Russian number plates to Kharkiv to take part in the storming of the RSA building. Russian activist organizations confirmed that they sent Russians to "peacefully protest" in Kharkiv. Police regained control of the building by evening on the same day, and replaced the Russian flag with that of Ukraine.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Kharkiv Oblast
Demonstrations by pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian activists in Kharkiv continued throughout the month of March. These included pro-Russian gatherings of up to 5,000 people, and pro-Ukrainian gatherings of up to 10,000 people. Despite this, the city remained relatively calm until 15 March, when two people were killed in a shootout between Ukrainian nationalists and pro-Russian activists. On the next day, pro-Russian activists broke into a Ukrainian cultural centre in Kharkiv, removed books written in the Ukrainian language, and burned them on the street outside.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Kharkiv Oblast
Pro -Russian protesters stormed and occupied the RSA building on 6 April. The next day, protesters in the occupied RSA building unilaterally declared independence from Ukraine as the "Kharkiv People's Republic". Doubts arose about the local origin of the protesters after they initially stormed an opera and ballet theatre believing it was the city hall. By 8 April, the RSA building had been retaken by Ukrainian special forces, and seventy protesters had been arrested. 1,000 pro-Russian protesters returned to the RSA building on 13 April, and rallied around it, with some entering.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Kharkiv Oblast
These protesters then holed up inside the building with Kharkiv mayor Hennadiy Kernes. Later in the day, Kernes declared his support for an autonomy referendum and amnesty for the arrested Kharkiv separatists. At least fifty pro-government protesters, who had been holding concurrent demonstrations, were severely beaten in attacks by pro-Russian protesters. Gunshots and grenade explosions were heard. Videos showed three people covered with blood being held on the metro station stairs, and separatists coming up to them, kicking them and shouting "they are not humans!"


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Kharkiv Oblast
According to a report by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) monitoring mission on 19 April, no protesters were seen in front of the RSA building since 13 April. In a session of the Kharkiv City Appeals Court on 17 April, it was ruled that 43 of the 65 protesters arrested by authorities following the takeover of the RSA building on 8 and 9 April would remain in custody. Sentences for another 16 were changed to house arrest. Three detainees were released on bail, whereas the three remaining had been earlier sentenced to house arrest.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Kharkiv Oblast
Kharkiv remained calm over the weekend of 19–20 April, though a small, peaceful pro-Russian protest was held on Freedom Square. Demonstrations continued on Freedom Square, with 500 people gathering on 21 April to elect a "people's government". Worsening economic conditions in Ukraine were cited by participants as an impetus for the demonstrations. They called for the resignation of the city mayor and prosecutor as well as the return of Viktor Yanukovych. Vladimir Varshavsky was elected "people's governor".


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Kharkiv Oblast
More peaceful rallies were held in the morning on 23 April, with both anti-government and pro-government demonstrations held in Kharkiv city centre. Each rally was attended by around 400 people. Around 150 anti-government protesters gathered outside the city council building on Constitution Square concurrently with the rallies. Later that day, over 7,000 residents held a rally in the same spot to support the unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine. The situation overall in Kharkiv remained calm, though police remained on high alert. A small group of riot police were seen guarding the RSA building on 25 April, though the police presence as a whole in the city appeared to be much reduced.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Kharkiv Oblast
Rival demonstrations by supporters and opponents of a unitary Ukrainian state occurred on 27 April in Kharkiv city. This resulted in clashes between around 400 opponents and 500 to 600 supporters of the Ukrainian government. Police attempts to quell the unrest were not successful.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Kharkiv Oblast, Shooting of Hennadiy Kernes
The mayor of Kharkiv, Hennadiy Kernes, was shot in the back while cycling on 28 April 2014. He was said to be in "grave, but stable" condition. Kernes was known as a staunch opponent of the Euromaidan. However, he had also stated that he did not support the pro-Russian insurgency, and backed a united Ukraine. Mykhailo Dobkin, a former governor of Kharkiv Oblast and potential Ukrainian presidential candidate, said "You want to know my opinion, they were shooting not at Kernes, but at Kharkiv", and said that the shooting was an attempt to destabilize what was otherwise a relatively calm region.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Kharkiv Oblast, Further protests
Kharkiv returned to relative calm by 30 April, no rallies having been observed there by OSCE monitors. A minor demonstration by about four-hundred separatists was held in Freedom Square on 4 May. A notably increased police presence remained in and around Freedom Square. On the same day, a planned rally by pro-Ukrainian unity groups was cancelled due to concerns about potential clashes in the wake of the Odessa disaster.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Kharkiv Oblast, Further protests
Demonstrations by "opponents of Ukrainian unity" with Russian and Soviet flags were held in front of the Russian and Polish consulates in Kharkiv city on 26 May. These demonstrators initiated petitions that they said were signed by 1,500 people from Kharkiv, which called on the EU and Russia not to recognise the results of the 25 May Ukrainian presidential election. They also voiced opposition to the Ukrainian government's military operations in Donetsk Oblast. Mayor Hennadiy Kernes returned to Kharkiv city on 16 June, after receiving medical treatment in Israel. The city administration provided buses for around 1,000 people who came to greet him upon his return.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Kharkiv Oblast, Further protests
Demonstrations similar to the one that took place on 26 May continued throughout the month of June. One such demonstration took place on 22 June, with 800–900 people gathering on the 73rd anniversary of the German Reich's invasion of the Soviet Union. The demonstrators voiced the same concerns about the Ukrainian government's military operations to combat separatist insurgents in Donetsk Oblast. Concurrently, around 1,000 people rallied for a ban on the Communist Party of Ukraine, and on pro-Russian demonstrations. Some of the people participating in this rally approached the location of the aforementioned pro-Russian demonstration.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Kharkiv Oblast, Further protests
A verbal confrontation ensued, involving participants of both rallies. Police officers that had been escorting the pro-Ukrainian demonstrators dispersed the crowd. Thirty activists from both groups were temporarily detained as a result. The chief of the Kharkiv Oblast branch of the Ministry of Internal Affairs said on 28 June that about 200 policemen had been fired since March for having been "in violation of the law", with many of them having "separatist views". He also said that police intervention on 22 June had managed to "prevent slaughter", and that both Euromaidan and Anti-


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Kharkiv Oblast, Further protests
Maidan activists had been trying to "destabilize the situation". Furthermore, Kharkiv Oblast governor Ihor Baluta wrote on his Facebook page that 314 "active separatists" had been arrested in Kharkiv since 6 April. Another protest by about 300 Ukrainian unity activists took place on 22 July. They gathered outside the RSA building with European Union, NATO, and Ukrainian flags, and said that they wanted to prevent the war in the Donbas region from spreading to Kharkiv Oblast. They demanded that gatherings of separatists and communists within Kharkiv city be prohibited. An attempt was made to destroy an important bridge in the village of Hrushuvakha on 29 July. The bridge was not damaged in the attempt, but Kharkiv RSA said that there were other plots to carry out "terrorist attacks" in Kharkiv Oblast.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Kharkiv Oblast, Further protests
The mayor of Kharkiv, Hennadiy Kernes, granted freedom of the city to two Russian citizens at a session of the city council on 6 August. This concerned some people in the city, causing about one-hundred people to protest outside city administration building. Police restrained the protesters, who attempted to force their way into the building. Protesters and the police negotiated, and eventually five protestors were allowed into the city administration to voice their grievances. Kharkiv remained calm for the next few days, until 10 August.


2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Unrest by region, Kharkiv Oblast, Further protests
On that day, about 150 people gathered outside the city administration and demanded an end to the government military operation in the Donbas region. A counter-protest was also held, with about 300 people voicing their support for the government military opposition, calling for the dissolution of the city administration, and the dismissal of the mayor. About one-hundred anti-Maidan-affiliated demonstrators gathered on Freedom Square to protest against corruption in Ukraine on 17 August.