In the eastern city of Donetsk, about 1,000 demonstrators carrying Ukrainian flags marched through the streets to hold a pro-Ukrainian rally Monday night. They were attacked by several hundred armed men shouting “Russia!”
Police attempted to hold the pro-Russia men back but then largely stood aside as dozens of protesters were battered.
Hennady Kernes, the mayor of Kharkiv, was shot in the back this morning while cycling on the outskirts of the city, his office said. He underwent surgery and was reported by the hospital to be in “grave but stable” condition.
Officials have not commented on who could be behind the attack on the mayor, but Kernes was a man who could have angered both sides.
Kernes' friend and former Kharkiv governor, Mykhailo Dobkin, told journalists the attackers had aimed at Kernes' heart and wanted to kill him to destabilize the city “If you want to know my opinion, they were shooting not at Kernes, but at Kharkiv,” he said.
Dobkin is among several candidates running in Ukraine's May 25 presidential election, which the interim government says Russia is trying to derail.
